Alaska Science Center
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Our Alaska Science Center priority is to continue the important work of the Department of the Interior and the USGS, while also maintaining the health and safety of our employees and community. Based on guidance from the White House, the CDC, and state and local authorities, we are shifting our operations to a virtual mode and have minimal staffing within our offices. If you need additional assistance, please contact Chris Zimmerman.
In the Spotlight
Fish and aquatic habitats in Alaska support important commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries and provide forage fish that support wildlife populations.
View ResearchCurrent Water Conditions
Explore real-time Alaska streamflow, groundwater, and water-quality conditions and access data with our new interactive map application.
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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 at the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center in collaboration with coauthors. It describes the massive seabird die-off in the north Pacific and the research findings on this event.
USGS Responds to Spring Flooding
U.S. Geological Survey field crews are measuring flooding across the country as spring weather is in full swing. Warming temperatures, increased precipitation and snowmelt have caused moderate to major flooding in the upper Midwest, East Coast, Central Plains and the Southeast portions of the country.
Movements and Habitat Use of Loons for Assessment of Conservation Buffer Zones in the Arctic Coastal Plain of Northern Alaska
Few data exist to assess the value of National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska management buffer zones for conservation-reliant yellow-billed loons or sympatrically breeding red-throated and Pacific loons.
Publications
Citizen science collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska
Citizen science is science undertaken by the public, usually in collaboration with professional scientific institutions. It encourages citizens to tackle real-world scientific problems and augments traditional science by expanding the coverage of data collection and by reducing costs of fieldwork in remote locations. Information collected by...
Powers, Elizabeth; Williams, Dee
After-hatch and hatch year Buff-breasted Sandpipers (Calidris subruficollis) can be sexed accurately using morphometric measures
Determining the sex of birds quickly in the field can help in studies of behavior and distribution, and when selecting particular sexes for deploying tracking devices or collecting samples. However, discerning males from females is difficult in species that are plumage monomorphic and have overlapping sexual-size dimorphism, as in Buff-breasted...
Almeida, Juliana B.; Lopes, Iara F.; Oring, Lewis; Tibbitts, Lee; Pajot, Lisa M.; Lanctot, Richard B. Mitochondrial genome diversity and population mitogenomics of Polar cod (Boreogadus saida) and Arctic dwelling gadoids
High-latitude fish typically exhibit a narrow thermal tolerance window, which may pose challenges when coping with temperatures that shift outside of a species’ range of tolerance. Due to its role in aerobic metabolism and energy balance, the mitochondrial genome is likely critical for the acclimation and adaptation to differing temperature...
Wilson, Robert E.; Sonsthagen, Sarah A.; Sme, Noel; Gharrett, Anthony J.; Majewski, Andrew; Wedemeyer, Kate; Nelson, R. John; Talbot, Sandra L.