Images

Two Black Brant in a wetland near the Colville River Delta.

A Pacific Loon taking off from a small lake near the Colville River Delta in northern Alaska.

Canada Goose on the Colville River Delta

Two snow geese and a single black brant goose fight over nesting territories on the Colville River Delta in Alaska.

Black Brant flying near the Colville River, northern Alaska.

Near the top of the Tusuk Channel of the Pilgrim River.

Pre- and post-fire measurements of fire effects help ecologists, fire scientists, and managers determine how the severity of wildfires affects plants, animal habitat, and ecosystem services

Pre- and post-fire measurements of fire effects help ecologists, fire scientists, and managers determine how the severity of wildfires affects plants, animal habitat, and ecosystem services.

Reburns, or fires that burn more frequently than expected, are becoming more common in Alaska and can cause major changes in vegetation composition, wildlife habitat, and landscape resilience

Alaska Department of Fish and Games vessel Solstice carried USGS scientists for three weeks in May 2015 while they mapped 650 square kilometers of seafloor and features beneath the seafloor in fine detail.

Salcha River bridge near Salchaket

Nenana River sonar top near Windy

Mapping along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault required several days aboard the Alaska Department of Fish and Game research vessel Solstice. Here, the boat sits in a marina near Cordova, Alaska.

Sea ice blocks pushed up in a pressure ridge of ice

An adult female polar bear on the sea ice wearing a GPS satellite video-camera collar. GPS video-camera collars were applied to solitary adult female polar bears for 8 - 12 days in April, 2014-2016. These collars enabled researchers to understand the movements, behaviors, and foraging success of polar bears on the sea ice.

A Black-capped Chickadee with a severely deformed beak where the upper beak is elongated and curved down while the lower beak is elongated and straight. Over the past 26 years, Alaskans have witnessed a startling increase of beak deformities among Black-capped Chickadees and other species of resident birds.

A Black-capped Chickadee with a severely deformed beak where the upper beak is elongated and curved down while the lower beak is  elongated and straight

Satellite image from the USGS/NASA Landsat-8 satellite showing the eruption cloud at Pavlof Volcano on November 15 at 12:46 pm AKST (21:46 UTC). This is just a portion of the eruption cloud, which extended for more than 250 miles to the northwest at the time this image was collected.

A Black-capped Chickadee with an upper beak slightly longer than the lower beak. Avian keratin disorder (AKD) is a disease characterized by debilitating beak overgrowth and other abnormalities of keratinized tissues. Affected birds have difficulty feeding and preening and may suffer high rates of mortality.

A Black-capped Chickadee with a normal beak captured at an Anchorage banding station.

Sheridan River flood