Coastal community specialist joins Alaska Sea Grant

January 22, 2016

Davin Holen is Alaska Sea Grant’s new Marine Advisory coastal community resilience specialist and a research assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.

Holen will provide Alaska community residents with tools for hazard mitigation, economic resilience and climate change adaptation planning.

For the past 15 years, Holen has worked at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as a subsistence specialist and a program manager for southern Alaska.

“Over the years, I’ve worked with a lot of communities and regional organizations like the Bristol Bay Native Association and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska,” said Holen. “I think this job will allow me to broaden the scope of what I’ve already learned and done.”

Holen grew up in the Mat-Su Valley. His interest in community sustainability came after moving to Africa, where he lived for 2 1/2 years in a village on the edge of the Sahara Desert.

Holen said being so far away from home open his eyes to how people survive in a total subsistence environment. “I learned to speak the local dialect. And I learned how people interacted with the environment,” said Holen.

He returned to Alaska to pursue an advanced degree in anthropology and is nearing completion of a doctoral degree at UAF. His dissertation examines the resilient nature of commercial and subsistence fishing in Alaska for food security, culture and community well-being.

“Our program identified a need for a community resilience specialist in 2014,” said Paula Cullenberg, Alaska Sea Grant director. “While there are many tools available to support community adaptation, Davin’s job will be focused on working with communities to benefit from these resources. It is great that we have such a collaborative group of agencies and programs to support his work.”

Holen is based at the Marine Advisory office in Anchorage. Alaska Sea Grant, National Sea Grant, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, Alaska Ocean Observing System, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service, Climate Office and National Ocean Service are funding his position.

ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Davin Holen, 907-274-9697, dlholen@alaska.edu.