Nearshore Ecosystem Response to Deglaciation

The Nearshore Ecosystem Response to Deglaciation Study (NERD for short) is an effort to tease out the role glaciers play in coastal habitats in Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska. Proposed by a team of researchers from the National Park Service and U.S. Geological Survey, and launched in the summer of 2018, the NERD study poses three basic questions. How do glacial inputs affect the physical attributes of fjords? How do these inputs, such as ice, fresh water and sediment, affect the nearshore food web? And, how will the loss of glaciers change these communities?