Images

Red-faced Cormorant flying over the Aleutian Islands in 2013.

Glaucous-winged Gull flying near the Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Scenic sunrise over a lake at the Chipp South research camp on the north slope of Alaska.

In the Fox Islands of Alaska, Driftwood Bay on Umnak Island faces the deep-sea trench formed by the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone.

A handful of adult ninespine stickleback ready to be measured for total body length. These fish are ubiquitous in freshwater habitats of the Arctic Coastal Plain, outnumbering other fish species by as many as 800 individuals to one.

Yellow-billed Loon on a lake in the northern area of Alaska.

Degrading ice wedges on the Ikpikpuk River Delta on the North Slope of Alaska.

Along the northwestern shoreline of Driftwood Bay, Umnak Island, Alaska, the Cabin Flat study site (left) occupies a coastal lowland that backs a vegetated, emergent beach. Much of Driftwood Bay’s shoreline is flanked by sea cliffs over 50 m high and an extensive bedrock platform (right) in the intertidal zone.

A geologist stands on a drift log stranded 23 m above mean tide level, overlooking the Cabin Flat study site and Driftwood Bay, Umnak Island, Alaska.

Geologists camped near an upland lake about 0.5 km from the shore of Driftwood Bay, Umnak Island, Alaska. Vsevidof Volcano in the background.

Kittlitz’s Murrelets are often found in higher numbers near glaciers like the Columbia Glacier in Prince William Sound, Alaska

A Kittlitz’s Murrelet surfaces after a foraging dive in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Sarah Schoen, Mayumi Arimitsu, and Brielle Heflin pulling in a modified herring trawl on the R/V Alaskan Gyre in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Northern pike captured from an Arctic Coastal Plain lake. Predatory fish, like this northern pike, occupied only lakes with strong, permanent channel connections. Permanent channel connections provide movement corridors that fish use to swim between summer feeding areas and winter refuges.

Thermokarst lake, Seward Peninsula.

Coastal shorelines, Cape Espenberg, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Seward Peninsula

Coastal brackish marsh, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Seward Peninsula

Partially drained thermokarst lake with residual pool and patterned ground , Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Seward Peninsula.

Tundra lakes, Selawik National Wildlife Refuge

Hardwood patch on high ground, Selawik National Wildlife Refuge.  Dominant ecotypes include Upland Moist Dwarf Birch-Ericaceous-Willow Low Shrub, upland Organic-rich Moist Acidic Dwarf Birch-Tussock Shrub, and Upland Rocky-Loamy Moist Circumacidic Alder-Willow Tall Shrub.

“Drunken forest” of white spruce from permafrost melt along thermokarst lake shoreline, Selawik National Wildlife Refuge.