Alaska Science Center Newsletter - Fall 2020
We hope you enjoy and subscribe. Below are links to recent publications, data releases, and highlights of on-going research programs. In this issue we feature news on the Pacific marine heatwave, Alaska Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, and our Ecosystems Analytics group. See new additions to the Wildlife Tracking page, Data and tools and Publications.
Story Map on Pacific Marine Heatwave and Seabird Die-off
A story map, developed by the National Park Service, is based on a published article by John Piatt, Sarah Schoen and Mayumi Arimitsu at the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center in collaboration with 20 coauthors from the USFWS, NPS, NOAA, UW, and other research organizations. It describes the massive seabird die-off in the north Pacific and the research findings on this even
Alaska Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)
Our objective is to provide a strategic framework for planning, coordination, and execution of the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) in Alaska. Earth MRI aims to improve knowledge of the U.S. geologic framework through new geological and geophysical mapping and to identify areas that have the potential to contain undiscovered critical mineral resources.
Ecosystems Analytics
Ecosystems Analytics is a group of quantitative biologists and research statisticians with a diverse range of expertise and experience (summarized below). We collaborate with internal and external partners to answer challenging ecological questions that are a high priority of the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center, sister agencies within the Department of the Interior (DOI), and various state, national, and international institutions. Our work is largely focused on DOI trust species residing in Arctic and subarctic ecosystems but is broadly based. We consult with partner agencies on monitoring plan design and the application of existing statistical methods, and conduct research to develop innovative analytical techniques and statistical models that generally advance the field of statistical ecology. Work products improve our understanding of ecosystem function and population dynamics, provide management authorities with critical information to support decision-making, and are often useful to forecast future population status.
Wildlife Tracking Data Collection with Animated Tracking Maps
Understanding the movements of wildlife is critical for a wide variety of ecological research questions and management decisions.
Data
The Alaska Science Center Data Repository, a USGS Trusted Digital Repository, provides public access to the digital data from our research. See below for featured data sets and a list of all data releases from the USGS Alaska Science Center. All USGS released data sets are also listed in the USGS Science Data Catalog.