The Search for One of North America’s Rarest Birds
The McKay's Bunting - Alaska's only endemic landbird species
The McKay's Bunting - Alaska's only endemic landbird species
Q&A: The Role of USGS Ecosystems Science in Alaska
Assisting Executive and Department of Interior Secretarial orders and priorities
Assisting Executive and Department of Interior Secretarial orders and priorities
Anchorage Bike to Work Day - May 16, 2025
The USGS Alaska Science Center will host a station along the Lanie Fleischer Chester Creek Trail
The USGS Alaska Science Center will host a station along the Lanie Fleischer Chester Creek Trail
Environmental Occurrence of Avian Influenza Virus Relative to Bait Trapping of Waterfowl
Study finds that bait trapping was associated with localized increases in avian influenza virus
Study finds that bait trapping was associated with localized increases in avian influenza virus
Anchor River at Anchor Point
USGS has 24 river webcams in AK. Here is one river's data, photos, and timelapse video.
USGS has 24 river webcams in AK. Here is one river's data, photos, and timelapse video.
Alaska Science Center
The mission of the Alaska Science Center is to provide objective and timely data, information, and research findings about the earth and its flora and fauna to Federal, State, and local resource managers and the public to support sound decisions regarding natural resources, natural hazards, and ecosystems in Alaska and circumpolar regions. We have offices in Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks.
In the Spotlight
In the Spotlight
Critical Minerals in Ores (CMiO) database
Critical minerals are commodities essential to modern industrial and strategic technologies and are highly vulnerable to supply chain disruption. The CMiO database contains geochemical data for more than 20,000 samples from more than 100 deposit types comprising 10 deposit environments.
Current Water Conditions
Current Water Conditions
Explore real-time Alaska streamflow, groundwater, and water-quality conditions and access data with our new interactive map application.
News
Inaugural USGS Wildlife Health Awareness Day - April 25, 2025
Inaugural USGS Wildlife Health Awareness Day - April 25, 2025
Shorebirds and Roads: How Human-altered Landscapes Influence Shorebird Movements in Alaska
Shorebirds and Roads: How Human-altered Landscapes Influence Shorebird Movements in Alaska
Sixty-seven years and still digging! A brief history of the USGS Benchmark Glacier Project
Sixty-seven years and still digging! A brief history of the USGS Benchmark Glacier Project
Publications
Development of a genotyping-in-thousands by sequencing (GT-seq) panel for identifying individuals and estimating relatedness among Alaska black bears (Ursus americanus)
The management and conservation of large mammals, such as black bears (Ursus americanus), have long been informed by genetic estimates of population size and individual dispersal. Amplicon sequencing methods, also known as ‘genotyping-in-thousands-by sequencing’ (GT-seq), now enable the efficient and cost-effective genotyping of hundreds of loci and individuals in the same sequencing run...
Equilibrium line altitudes, accumulation areas, and the vulnerability of glaciers in Alaska
The accumulation area ratio (AAR) of a glacier reflects its current state of equilibrium, or disequilibrium, with climate and its vulnerability to future climate change. Here, we present an inventory of glacier-specific annual accumulation areas and equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) for over 3000 glaciers in Alaska and northwest Canada (88% of the regional glacier area) from 2018 to 2022...
Critical Minerals in Ores (CMiO) database
Critical minerals are commodities essential to modern industrial and strategic technologies and are highly vulnerable to supply chain disruption. The Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative (CMMI) is a collaboration among the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Geological Survey of Canada, and Geoscience Australia that aims to deepen global understanding of where critical minerals are...
Science
Q&A: USGS Ecosystems Science Provides Information on Subsistence and Hunter-Harvested Food Resources in Alaska
The USGS is the science arm of the Department of the Interior with a mission to provide timely and impartial science information to decision-makers, industry, tribal entities and others. In Alaska, subsistence and hunter-harvested foods are kitchen table issues for the public. The annual subsistence harvest per rural resident is 295 pounds of wild food. USGS science is responsive to subsistence...
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...
Glaciers and Landscape Change
Mountain glaciers are dynamic reservoirs of frozen water, deeply interconnected with their surrounding ecosystems. Glacier change in North America has major societal impacts, including to water resources, natural hazard risk, tourism disruption, fisheries, and global sea level change. Understanding and quantifying precise connections between changing glaciers, the surrounding landscape and climate...