Message from the Dean

As noted below under Accomplishments, it is a great pleasure to congratulate Stephanie Madsen for being honored with the Vera Alexander Award for Marine Science and Education. Stephanie has been an ardent supporter of Alaska’s commercial fisheries in her former role as executive director of the At-Sea Processors Association, as well as through her service with the Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center, the CFOS Advisory Council, and the UA Foundation. I am very pleased that Stephanie has expressed her interest to remain actively engaged with CFOS research and education activities, and we very much welcome her continued insight and support. Congratulations Stephanie!

In just over two weeks, the 51st annual meeting of the Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society will take place in Ketchikan. This meeting will provide a wonderful opportunity to showcase our fisheries research and education activities, and many presentations will be given by our faculty, students and collaborators. Andy Seitz recently began a four-year term on the Executive Committee of the Alaska Chapter, and is helping to organize this important meeting.

Daylight is increasing in our great state, and you can sense that spring is just around the corner—time to get that remaining seasonal skiing done.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is in port in Honolulu, Hawaii, preparing for the annual American Bureau of Shipping and U.S. Coast Guard inspections. These yearly inspections are required to maintain the Certificate of Inspection, issued once every five years, that shows vessels are seaworthy and safe for personnel.

Accomplishments

 

Stephanie Madsen was honored by the Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center with the Vera Alexander Award for Marine Science and Education. Madsen, a longtime PCCRC supporter and advisory board member, retired last year as executive director of the At-Sea Processors Association. 

 

CFOS in the News

 

The Alaska Science Forum column, which is published in numerous outlets in the state, highlighted a 2023 cruise aboard R/V Sikuliaq that took cores from the ocean floor to learn about the Bering Land Bridge. 

 

Publications

 

Ozkan-Haller, T., J. Yoder, L. Aluwhihare, [...], S.B. Moran, et al. 2025. Forecasting the Ocean: 2025-2035 Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/27846

Ozkan-Haller, T., J. Yoder, L. Aluwhihare, [...], S.B. Moran, et al. 2024. Progress and priorities in ocean drilling: In search of Earth’s past and present. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/27414

 

Sutton, L., B.P. Ulaski, N.C. Lundstrom, E.J. Whitney, J.B. Fellman, A.H. Beaudreau, J. Jenckes, S.S. Gabara, and B. Konar. 2025. Seasonality and hydroclimatic variability shape the functional and taxonomic diversity of nearshore fish communities in glacierized estuaries of Alaska. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152086

Veatch, J.M., M.J. Oliver, E. Fredj, H. Statscewich, K. Bernard, A.M. Hann, G. Voirol, H.L. Fuchs, W.R. Fraser, and J.T. Kohut. 2025. Lagrangian coherent structures influence the spatial structure of marine food webs. Communications Earth & Environment. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02101-x

Message from the Dean

Uncertainty appears to be a certainty, at least for the near-term, in terms of federal agency support of our research and education enterprise. We are far from alone in having to adapt to these external forces. It may seem cliché to say that we will get through this, but we will. 

Over the past decade, together we have managed significant change at the unit level, navigated the most severe budget decrements in the history of the university, and adapted and grown our diverse research and education programs in the face of the global pandemic. Through all that turmoil our numbers speak for themselves: year-over-year increases in graduate and undergraduate enrollment, all-time-high revenues that position CFOS’s budget as the second-largest academic or research unit (financially) in the university system, and major facility operations that are second to none on a national basis. 

Naturally, we are all concerned about the future. But make no mistake, CFOS has proven to be remarkably resilient. I remain confident that we will not only get through this crossfire hurricane, we will emerge stronger and ever more important to the success of the university and the future of Alaska.

Hang in there, everyone—we will get through this together.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is underway for the first of two Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) cruises this winter. For over three decades, scientists based at the University of Hawaii have conducted oceanographic studies of the “state of our sea” to establish baseline data at Station ALOHA. HOT cruises are usually conducted aboard R/V Kilo Moana; however, Sikuliaq is supporting this effort while the “KM” undergoes an extended drydock repair schedule.

Accomplishments

CFOS students swept the best student poster awards at this year’s Alaska Marine Science Symposium. Congratulations to the winners!

• Doctorate: “Getting to the Source of it: Determining the Specificity of Different Biomarkers,” Sydney Wilkinson, advisor Katrin Iken
• Master’s: “Towards Pinto Abalone Farming in Alaska,” Lindsay Meyer, advisor Schery Umanzor
• Bachelor/High School: “Feasibility of Sea Urchin Ranching in Alaska,” McKenna Shook, advisor Brenda Konar

CFOS in the News

Research by Lara Horstmann and her students on microplastics in seal fetuses was covered by the Alaska Beacon. Current and former CFOS students Chelsea Kovalcsik, Tony Blade, Noelle Picard, Linnaea Doerner and Alexandra Sletten were featured in the article. 

 

Courtney Carothers was quoted in a Northern Journal article about the loss of fishing permits in rural Alaska.

 

Alaska Marine Science Symposium presentations by Hank Statscewich and Andy Seitz were mentioned in a Cordova Times story about research highlights from the conference. 

 

Another Cordova Times article focused on research by Andy Seitz, Michael Courtney and Hannah Myers about salmon sharks’ consumption of chinook salmon in the Gulf of Alaska. 

 

Publications

Campana, S.E., G. Hambrecht, N. Misarti, H. Moshfeka, M. Efird, S.M. Schaal, G.A. Olafsdottir, R. Edvardsson, A.D. Juliusson, E. Hjorleifsson, F.J. Feeley, G. Cesario, and L.B. Palsdottir. 2025. Mortality drives production dynamics of Atlantic cod through 1100 years of commercial fishing. Science Advances. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adt4782 

 

Jung, J.W., M. Dittrich, S. Umanzor, and J.K. Kim. 2025. Influence of Sargassum horneri extract (SHE) pre-treatment and nutrient availability on the thermal tolerance of Palmaria hecatensis. Journal of Applied Phycology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-024-03419-3

 

Umanzor, S., J.W. Jung, M. Dittrich, J.K. Kim, P. Tomco, Z.C. Redman, and M. Brandhuber. 2025. Divergent patterns of metabolite expression in red seaweeds

(Devaleraea mollis and Palmaria hecatensis) following nitrate and

ammonium supplementation. Life. https://doi.org/10.3390/life15020143 

 

Williams, W.J., K.A. Brown, L.M. Rotermund, B.A. Bluhm, S.L. Danielson, M. Dempsey, F.A. McLaughlin, S. Vagle, and E.C. Carmack. 2025. Processes in the Kitikmeot Sea estuary constraining marine life. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2024.00031

 

Grants and Awards for January

 

New awards for CFOS researchers

• Grant G-16574 "Measuring the pulse of the Gulf of Alaska: Oceanographic observations along the Seward Line 2024-2029" - Russ Hopcroft - NPRB - $867,340.00 (July 1, 2024)
• Grant G-16577 "Using Satellite-Tracked Autonomous Drifting Buoys to Advance Search and Rescue Capabilities of Yup'ik Coastal Communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta" - Thilo Klenz - AOOS - $59,500.00 (September 1, 2024)
• Grant G-16593 "Climate Drivers of Yukon River Chinook Productivity #1" - Megan McPhee - NPRB - $35,873.17 (September 1, 2024)
• Grant G-16594 " Climate Drivers of Yukon River Chinook Productivity #2" - Megan McPhee - NPRB - $26,633.00 (September 1, 2024)
• Grant G-16605 "Marine Habitat Selection by Seabirds of the Northern Bering Sea: Physical Processes, Movements, Foraging, and Modeling" - Kristen Gorman - NPRB - $9,980.00 (October 1, 2024)
• Grant G-16609 "StratiFIED-Stratification and Fronts Influencing Ecosystem Dynamics in the Northern Bering Sea" - Sarah Mincks - NPRB - $10,000.00 (October 1, 2024)

Awards receiving incremental funding

• Grant G-14032 "Material and Cost Efficient Modular Riverine Hydrokinetic Energy System" - Andy Seitz - ACEP - Mod 3 - $60,681.00 (April 12, 2021)
• Grant G-15802 "NNA Collaboratory: ACTION - Alaska Coastal Cooperative for Co-producing Transformative Ideas and Opportunities in the North" - Kay McMonigal - GI - Mod 2 - $142,208.00 (October 1, 2023)
• Grant G-15892 "CY2023-CY2028 R/V Sikuliaq ONR Ship Days" - Doug Baird - Mod 2 - $518,405.00 (December 1, 2023)

Message from the Dean

It is my pleasure to convey that Dr. Thilo Klenz has been appointed Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Oceanography. A CFOS alum (Ph.D., 2023), Thilo is known to many in the college as a seagoing physical oceanographer who has participated in research cruises in the tropical Atlantic and Pacific, the subpolar North Atlantic, the Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Alaska, and off Antarctica. His research focuses on the physics of ocean circulation and turbulent mixing, using a combination of ocean drifters and related observation platforms and modeling approaches. Please join me in congratulating Thilo!

This week the North Pacific Research Board and partners will host the 2025 Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage. As in past years, CFOS researchers and students will have a major presence at this meeting. CFOS will host a booth, so please stop by during the poster sessions if you plan to attend. As part of AMSS, the annual Coastal Marine Institute symposium will be held Friday morning, and presentations by researchers supported by the Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center will run concurrently.

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is moored at the University of Hawaii Marine Center pier in Honolulu, Hawaii. After unloading science gear from the Jurassic Quiet Zone seismic survey, Sikuliaq will be prepared for four research cruises and three short repair periods over the next few months.

Accomplishments

 

Tamamta fellow Natasha Hayden was given an Environmental Leader Award by the Center for Rural Affairs for her advocacy for Indigenous fishing rights. 

 

CFOS in the News

 

The Nature Conservancy highlighted a new report by Courtney Carothers about financial damage caused by Alaska’s commercial fisheries permit system. 

 

Alaska Beacon and other outlets covered new research by Matthew Wooller and Peter Westley about northern pike using saltwater corridors to colonize freshwater lakes. 

 

Publications

 

Lindley, E.D., K.M. Dunmall, and P.A.H. Westley. 2025. Assessing the role of incubation temperature as a barrier to successful establishment of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in a rapidly warming Arctic. Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70797

 

Lindley, E.D., and P.A.H. Westley. 2025. Methods and approach to the interdisciplinary and cross-cultural Arctic Alaska Salmon Workshop: critical self-reflections from fisheries scientists. Arctic Science. https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0054

 

McMahon, J., S.A. May, P.S. Rand, K.B. Gorman, M.V. McPhee, and P.A.H. Westley. 2025. Phenotypic sorting of pink salmon hatchery strays may alleviate adverse impacts of reduced variation in fitness-associated traits. Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70781

 

Sullaway, G.H., C. Cunningham, D.G. Kimmel, J.M. Nielsen, D. Pilcher, A.I. Pinchuk, and P.J. Stabeno. 2025. Impacts of climate change on Bering Sea copepod phenology and reproductive strategy. Marine Ecology Progress Series. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14796

 

Message from the Dean

As we kick off the spring 2025 semester, it is a pleasure to wish everyone a belated happy New Year and a warm welcome to our returning and new CFOS students. Our faculty and staff are here to support you, and we wish you great success.

Congratulations to our fall 2024 graduates:

 

Jonah Bacon, M.S. Fisheries. Major advisor: Trent Sutton

Lok Hei (Matt) Cheng, Ph.D. Fisheries. Major advisor: Curry Cunningham

Muriel Dittrich, M.S. Marine Biology. Major advisor: Schery Umanzor

Janessa Esquible, Ph.D. Fisheries. Major advisor: Courtney Carothers

Cameron Jardell, M.S. Marine Biology. Major advisor: Schery Umanzor

Hannah Kepner, M.S. Oceanography. Major advisor: Russ Hopcroft

Kimberly Pikok, M.S. Interdisciplinary. Major advisor: Courtney Carothers

Lindsay Turner, M.S. Fisheries. Major advisor: Curry Cunningham

Sierra Lloyd, B.S. Fisheries and Marine Sciences. Concentration: Oceanography

 

R/V Sikuliaq

Sikuliaq is transiting from Pohnpei, Micronesia, to Honolulu, Hawaii. At the University of Hawaii Marine Center in Honolulu, Sikuliaq will prepare for four research cruises and three short repair periods over the next few months.

 

Accomplishments

 

Courtney Carothers was appointed to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee. 

 

CFOS graduate student Sujung Chung was selected as a 2025 USDA NextGen Scholar for UAF. 

 

CFOS in the News

 

An Inside Unmanned Technology story about UAF scientists’ use of drones and gliders included ecosystem research by Hank Statscewich and Seth Danielson from the CFOS glider lab.

 

Peter Westley was interviewed on the Fish of the Week podcast about expanding salmon migrations into the Arctic. 

 

Sea Technology published a short item about a kelp farming toolkit created by a group of elementary school students in Washington. Schery Umanzor helped with their project. 

 

Alaska Sea Grant highlighted pink salmon research by Peter Westley and Ph.D. student Elizabeth Lindley on its news website.

Publications

 

Oke, K.B., M.A. Litzow, and F. Mueter. 2024. Shifting temperature-abundance relationship for Bering Sea walleye pollock consistent with northward expansion during exceptionally warm conditions. Marine Ecology Progress Series. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14720

 

Oswalt, H.E., M.O. Amsler, C.D. Amsler, K. Iken, J.B. McClintock, A.G. Klein, A.W.G. Galloway. 2025. Nutritional consistency of macroalgae across a sea ice cover gradient along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of Phycology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpy.13541

 

Wooller, M.J., P. Bradley, K.J. Spaleta, R.L. Massengill, K. Dunker, and P.A.H. Westley. 2024. Estuarine dispersal of an invasive Holarctic predator (Esox lucius) confirmed in North America. PLOS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0315320

 

Grants and Awards for December 2024

 

New awards for CFOS researchers

• Grant G-16520 "Chukchi Ecosystem Observatory: Monitoring and detection of wind and ice-mediated changes using year-round moorings in the Northeast Chukchi Sea" - Seth Danielson - NPRB - $306,209.00 (December 1, 2024)
• Grant G-16553 "Developing Pacific Dulse as a valuable USDA specialty crop for sustainable nutrition and coastal economy" - Schery Umanzor - Oregon State University - $83,950.00 (September 30, 2024)
• Grant G-16570 "University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Ship Operations CY2025 - 2028" - Bradley Moran - NSF - $5,000,000.00 (January 1, 2025)

Awards receiving incremental funding

• Grant G-14380 "Arctic High-Frequency Radar Operations and Maintenance (Arctic HFR)" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - Mod 4 - $156,000.00 (July 1, 2021)
• Grant G-14451 "Seward Line Monitoring (Seward Line)" - Russ Hopcroft - AOOS - Mod 4- $116,000.00 (July 1, 2021)
• Grant G-14471 "Alaska Ecosystem Observatory Network Build-Out, Operations and Maintenance (Eco-Moorings)" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - Mod 4 - $85,000.00 (July 1, 2021)
• Grant G-14472 "Measuring Ocean Currents in Bering Strait with High Frequency Radars (Bering Strait HFR)" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - Mod 4 - $115,000.00 (July 1, 2021)
• Grant G-14473 "Alaska Region Glider Missions Supporting an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM Gliders)" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - Mod 4 - $240,000.00 (July 1, 2021)
• Grant G-14482 "An Arctic Marine Mammal Observing System (Chukchi Glider)" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - Mod 4 - $65,000.00 (July 1, 2021)
• Grant G-14484 "Time-Series Monitoring of Ocean Acidification in Alaska (OA Timeseries)" - Natalie Monacci - AOOS - Mod 4 - $29,000.00 (July 1, 2021)
• Grant G-14485 "National Ocean Acidification Observing Network (NOA-ON) Stations: Gulf of Alaska (GAKOA) and Bering Sea (M2) moorings (M2 and GAK Moorings)" - Natalie Monacci - AOOS - Mod 4 - $168,972.00 (July 1, 2021)
• Grant G-15157 "Arctic High-Frequency Radar FCC Compliance (HFR Operators)" - Seth Danielson - AOOS - Mod 3 - $19,048.00 (July 1, 2022)
• Grant G-15438 "Examine health metrics of Copper River sockeye salmon stocks to inform management decision making" - Kristen Gorman - NPS - Mod 4 - $419,000.00 (April 13, 2023)
• Grant G-15870 "LTER: Seasonal controls and emergent effects of changing land-ice-ocean interactions on the Arctic coastal ecosystems (BLE II)" - Katrin Iken - University of Texas at Austin - Mod 1 - $139,994.00 (September 1, 2023)