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Ashley Stanek

Ashley is a Biologist with the Alaska Science Center.

Professional Experience

  • 2019 - Present   Biologist, USGS Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska

  • 2017 - 2018    Biological Science Technician, Glacier Bay National Park, NPS, Bartlett Cove, Alaska

  • 2014 - 2016   Associate Director, Applied Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Anchorage

  • 2010 - 2013   Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage

  • 2009   Refuge Ranger, Alaska Peninsula and Becharof National Wildlife Refuges, USFWS, King Salmon, Alaska

Education and Certifications

  • M.S.  2014  University of Alaska Anchorage    Biological Sciences

  • B.S.  2009   Humboldt State University        Zoology

Science and Products

link
Male scientist with fishing rod and female scientist using a plankton on small boat on a lake. Green hills in background.

Tracing Mercury Through Lake Food Webs

Mercury concentrations in fish likely reflect different energy sources in lake food webs. Species, populations, or individuals may contain higher and variable concentrations of mercury, which may relate directly to prey mercury content, diets of fish, and fish foraging strategies.
By
Alaska Science Center
link

Tracing Mercury Through Lake Food Webs

Mercury concentrations in fish likely reflect different energy sources in lake food webs. Species, populations, or individuals may contain higher and variable concentrations of mercury, which may relate directly to prey mercury content, diets of fish, and fish foraging strategies.
Learn More
link
Spawing sockeye salmon in a Matanuska River side channel, Alaska

Fish and Aquatic Ecology

Fish and aquatic habitats in Alaska support important commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries and provide forage fish that support wildlife populations. The USGS Alaska Science Center conducts interdisciplinary research to inform local, state, federal, and international policy makers regarding conservation of fish, aquatic species, and their habitats. We work collaboratively with hydrologists...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Alaska Science Center
link

Fish and Aquatic Ecology

Fish and aquatic habitats in Alaska support important commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries and provide forage fish that support wildlife populations. The USGS Alaska Science Center conducts interdisciplinary research to inform local, state, federal, and international policy makers regarding conservation of fish, aquatic species, and their habitats. We work collaboratively with hydrologists...
Learn More
link
A lot of small fish from a fyke net set near Kaktovik, AK. Biologists sort through them.

Nearshore Fish Surveys in the Beaufort Sea

Nearshore systems provide habitat to a unique community of marine and diadromous (lives in both fresh and saltwater) fish and support high fish abundance.
By
Species Management Research Program, Alaska Science Center
link

Nearshore Fish Surveys in the Beaufort Sea

Nearshore systems provide habitat to a unique community of marine and diadromous (lives in both fresh and saltwater) fish and support high fish abundance.
Learn More
link
A Red-throated Loon swimming in a small lake

Does fish prey influence red-throated loon productivity?

This study will evaluate the nearshore marine feeding areas of breeding adult red-throated loons and assess the response of loon reproductive success to differences in the relative abundance, composition, and nutritional content of nearshore fish communities that vary in space and time.
By
Alaska Science Center
link

Does fish prey influence red-throated loon productivity?

This study will evaluate the nearshore marine feeding areas of breeding adult red-throated loons and assess the response of loon reproductive success to differences in the relative abundance, composition, and nutritional content of nearshore fish communities that vary in space and time.
Learn More

Water Temperature, Electrical Conductivity, and Salinity of Lagoons in the Beaufort Sea, Alaska, 2017-2019

This dataset contains a table with temperature (°C), raw electrical conductivity (μS/cm), and salinity (psu) measured in Beaufort Sea, Alaska, Lagoons during summers 2017-2019.
By
Alaska Science Center

Gene Transcription and Heat Shock Protein 70 Abundance in Juvenile Hatchery Reared Coho Salmon and Chinook Salmon during a Manipulative Thermal Experiment, Anchorage, Alaska 2020-2021

This dataset consists of two tables with the results from two manipulative thermal experiments with juvenile coho salmon (May 2021) and juvenile Chinook salmon (May 2020) and include 1) gene transcription results and heat shock protein 70 abundance in coho salmon and Chinook salmon and 2) water temperatures to which fish were exposed during the experiment.
By
Alaska Science Center

Nearshore Fish Isotope Values, Beaufort Sea, Alaska, 2017-2019

This dataset contains isotope results of stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) and radicoarbon (F14C) analyses of muscle tissue from fish collected in the nearshore Beaufort Sea, Alaska in summers 2017-2019.
By
Alaska Science Center

Fish Communities of the Nearshore Beaufort Sea, Alaska, Across Three Decades, 1988-2019

This dataset contains two tables comprising catch per unit effort (CPUE) data and length measurements from fish surveys conducted in the nearshore Beaufort Sea, Alaska, between 1988 and 2019. Historical data collected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) includes fish catch and fish length data (measured from a subset of the total catch) from two eras, 1988-1991 and 2003-2005, in the east
By
Alaska Science Center

Observations Documenting Premature Mortality Among Alaska's Pacific Salmon in 2019

These data are a compilation of geographically widespread observations of premature mortality in Pacific salmon across their range in Alaska in 2019. Premature mortality observations primarily spanned an area of western and southcentral Alaska that is approximately one million km2 and included all five species of Pacific salmon. Observations were obtained and compiled in a single database from fou
By
Alaska Science Center
USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske standing on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske standing on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

USGS Alaska Science Center scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska departing for a day of field work in the nearshore Beaufort Sea to study fish community response to environmental conditions including sea ice, water temperature and salinity.

By
Alaska Science Center
USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske standing on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

USGS Alaska Science Center scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska departing for a day of field work in the nearshore Beaufort Sea to study fish community response to environmental conditions including sea ice, water temperature and salinity.

By
Alaska Science Center

Arctic fishes reveal patterns in radiocarbon age across habitats and with recent climate change

Climate change alters the sources and age of carbon in Arctic food webs by fostering the release of older carbon from degrading permafrost. Radiocarbon (14C) traces carbon sources and age, but data before rapid warming are rare and limit assessments over time. We capitalized on 14C data collected ~ 40 years ago that used fish as natural samplers by resampling the same species today. Among resample
Authors
Ashley E. Stanek, Jonathan A. O'Donnell, Michael P. Carey, Sarah M. Laske, Xiaomei Xu, Kenneth H. Dunton, Vanessa R. von Biela
By
Alaska Science Center

Local environmental conditions structured discrete fish assemblages in Arctic lagoons

Rapid changes in sea ice extent and changes in freshwater inputs from land are rapidly changing the nature of Arctic estuarine ecosystems. In the Beaufort Sea, these nearshore habitats are known for their high productivity and mix of marine resident and diadromous fishes that have great subsistence value for Indigenous communities. There is, however, a lack of information on the spatial variation
Authors
Sarah M. Laske, Vanessa R. von Biela, Ashley E. Stanek, Kenneth H. Dunton
By
Alaska Science Center

Differential heat shock protein responses in two species of Pacific salmon and their utility in identifying heat stress

Rapid and accelerating warming of salmon habitat has the potential to lower productivity of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus species) populations. Heat stress biomarkers can indicate where warming is most likely affecting fish populations; however, we often lack clear classifications that separate individuals with and without heat stress needed to make these tools operational. We conducted a heat expo
Authors
Vanessa R. von Biela, Amy M. Regish, Lizabeth Bowen, Ashley E. Stanek, Shannon C. Waters, Michael P. Carey, Christian E. Zimmerman, Jonathon Gerken, Daniel Rinella, Stephen D. McCormick
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Alaska Science Center

Borealization of nearshore fishes on an interior Arctic shelf over multiple decades

Borealization is a type of community reorganization where Arctic specialists are replaced by species with more boreal distributions in response to climatic warming. The process of borealization is often exemplified by the northward range expansions and subsequent proliferation of boreal species on the Pacific and Atlantic inflow Arctic shelves (i.e., Bering/Chukchi and Barents seas, respectively).
Authors
Vanessa R. von Biela, Sarah M. Laske, Ashley E. Stanek, Randy J Brown, Kenneth H. Dunton
By
Alaska Science Center

Barrier islands influence the assimilation of terrestrial energy in nearshore fishes

We examined the relative importance of landscape features on estuarine fish trophic structure and dependence on terrestrial organic matter (OMterr) in four barrier island lagoon systems along the Alaskan Beaufort Sea coast. Our study compared two relatively large lagoon systems characterized by high river discharge and relatively free ocean water exchanges (central region near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska)
Authors
Ashley E. Stanek, Vanessa R. von Biela, Sarah M. Laske, Rebecca L. Taylor, Kenneth H. Dunton
By
Alaska Science Center

Non-USGS Publications**

Lewis, T.M., A.E. Stanek, and K.B. Young. (2020) Bears in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve: Sightings, human interactions, and research 2010–2017. Natural Resource Report NPS/GLBA/NRR—2020/2134. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. https://irma.nps.gov/Datastore/Reference/Profile/2274442
Stanek A.E., Wolf N., Welker J.M., Jensen S. (2019) Experimentally derived incorporation rates and diet-to-tissue discrimination values for carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in gray wolves (Canis lupus) fed a marine diet. Canadian Journal of Zoology 97:1225–1230. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2019-0049
Verbrugge L.A., A.E. Stanek, B. Mangipane. (2018) The gray wolf. Pages 153-165. In: C.A. Woody (ed.), Bristol Bay Alaska: Natural Resources of the Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems. J. Ross Publishing.
Stanek A.E., N. Wolf, G. Hilderbrand, B. Mangipane, D. Causey, J.M. Welker. (2017) Seasonal foraging strategies of Alaskan gray wolves (Canis lupus) in an ecosystem subsidized by Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.). Canadian Journal of Zoology. 95:555-563. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0203
Stanek A.E. (2014) Dietary ecology of Alaskan gray wolves: seasonal foraging strategies in a salmon subsidized ecosystem. MS Thesis. University of Alaska Anchorage. http://www.depts.washington.edu/pnwcesu/reports/J8W07100010_P10AC00483_Final_Report.pdf

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

Science and Products

link
Male scientist with fishing rod and female scientist using a plankton on small boat on a lake. Green hills in background.

Tracing Mercury Through Lake Food Webs

Mercury concentrations in fish likely reflect different energy sources in lake food webs. Species, populations, or individuals may contain higher and variable concentrations of mercury, which may relate directly to prey mercury content, diets of fish, and fish foraging strategies.
By
Alaska Science Center
link

Tracing Mercury Through Lake Food Webs

Mercury concentrations in fish likely reflect different energy sources in lake food webs. Species, populations, or individuals may contain higher and variable concentrations of mercury, which may relate directly to prey mercury content, diets of fish, and fish foraging strategies.
Learn More
link
Spawing sockeye salmon in a Matanuska River side channel, Alaska

Fish and Aquatic Ecology

Fish and aquatic habitats in Alaska support important commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries and provide forage fish that support wildlife populations. The USGS Alaska Science Center conducts interdisciplinary research to inform local, state, federal, and international policy makers regarding conservation of fish, aquatic species, and their habitats. We work collaboratively with hydrologists...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Alaska Science Center
link

Fish and Aquatic Ecology

Fish and aquatic habitats in Alaska support important commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries and provide forage fish that support wildlife populations. The USGS Alaska Science Center conducts interdisciplinary research to inform local, state, federal, and international policy makers regarding conservation of fish, aquatic species, and their habitats. We work collaboratively with hydrologists...
Learn More
link
A lot of small fish from a fyke net set near Kaktovik, AK. Biologists sort through them.

Nearshore Fish Surveys in the Beaufort Sea

Nearshore systems provide habitat to a unique community of marine and diadromous (lives in both fresh and saltwater) fish and support high fish abundance.
By
Species Management Research Program, Alaska Science Center
link

Nearshore Fish Surveys in the Beaufort Sea

Nearshore systems provide habitat to a unique community of marine and diadromous (lives in both fresh and saltwater) fish and support high fish abundance.
Learn More
link
A Red-throated Loon swimming in a small lake

Does fish prey influence red-throated loon productivity?

This study will evaluate the nearshore marine feeding areas of breeding adult red-throated loons and assess the response of loon reproductive success to differences in the relative abundance, composition, and nutritional content of nearshore fish communities that vary in space and time.
By
Alaska Science Center
link

Does fish prey influence red-throated loon productivity?

This study will evaluate the nearshore marine feeding areas of breeding adult red-throated loons and assess the response of loon reproductive success to differences in the relative abundance, composition, and nutritional content of nearshore fish communities that vary in space and time.
Learn More

Water Temperature, Electrical Conductivity, and Salinity of Lagoons in the Beaufort Sea, Alaska, 2017-2019

This dataset contains a table with temperature (°C), raw electrical conductivity (μS/cm), and salinity (psu) measured in Beaufort Sea, Alaska, Lagoons during summers 2017-2019.
By
Alaska Science Center

Gene Transcription and Heat Shock Protein 70 Abundance in Juvenile Hatchery Reared Coho Salmon and Chinook Salmon during a Manipulative Thermal Experiment, Anchorage, Alaska 2020-2021

This dataset consists of two tables with the results from two manipulative thermal experiments with juvenile coho salmon (May 2021) and juvenile Chinook salmon (May 2020) and include 1) gene transcription results and heat shock protein 70 abundance in coho salmon and Chinook salmon and 2) water temperatures to which fish were exposed during the experiment.
By
Alaska Science Center

Nearshore Fish Isotope Values, Beaufort Sea, Alaska, 2017-2019

This dataset contains isotope results of stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) and radicoarbon (F14C) analyses of muscle tissue from fish collected in the nearshore Beaufort Sea, Alaska in summers 2017-2019.
By
Alaska Science Center

Fish Communities of the Nearshore Beaufort Sea, Alaska, Across Three Decades, 1988-2019

This dataset contains two tables comprising catch per unit effort (CPUE) data and length measurements from fish surveys conducted in the nearshore Beaufort Sea, Alaska, between 1988 and 2019. Historical data collected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) includes fish catch and fish length data (measured from a subset of the total catch) from two eras, 1988-1991 and 2003-2005, in the east
By
Alaska Science Center

Observations Documenting Premature Mortality Among Alaska's Pacific Salmon in 2019

These data are a compilation of geographically widespread observations of premature mortality in Pacific salmon across their range in Alaska in 2019. Premature mortality observations primarily spanned an area of western and southcentral Alaska that is approximately one million km2 and included all five species of Pacific salmon. Observations were obtained and compiled in a single database from fou
By
Alaska Science Center
USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske standing on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske standing on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

USGS Alaska Science Center scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska departing for a day of field work in the nearshore Beaufort Sea to study fish community response to environmental conditions including sea ice, water temperature and salinity.

By
Alaska Science Center
USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske standing on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

USGS scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske on shore near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

USGS Alaska Science Center scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska departing for a day of field work in the nearshore Beaufort Sea to study fish community response to environmental conditions including sea ice, water temperature and salinity.

By
Alaska Science Center

Arctic fishes reveal patterns in radiocarbon age across habitats and with recent climate change

Climate change alters the sources and age of carbon in Arctic food webs by fostering the release of older carbon from degrading permafrost. Radiocarbon (14C) traces carbon sources and age, but data before rapid warming are rare and limit assessments over time. We capitalized on 14C data collected ~ 40 years ago that used fish as natural samplers by resampling the same species today. Among resample
Authors
Ashley E. Stanek, Jonathan A. O'Donnell, Michael P. Carey, Sarah M. Laske, Xiaomei Xu, Kenneth H. Dunton, Vanessa R. von Biela
By
Alaska Science Center

Local environmental conditions structured discrete fish assemblages in Arctic lagoons

Rapid changes in sea ice extent and changes in freshwater inputs from land are rapidly changing the nature of Arctic estuarine ecosystems. In the Beaufort Sea, these nearshore habitats are known for their high productivity and mix of marine resident and diadromous fishes that have great subsistence value for Indigenous communities. There is, however, a lack of information on the spatial variation
Authors
Sarah M. Laske, Vanessa R. von Biela, Ashley E. Stanek, Kenneth H. Dunton
By
Alaska Science Center

Differential heat shock protein responses in two species of Pacific salmon and their utility in identifying heat stress

Rapid and accelerating warming of salmon habitat has the potential to lower productivity of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus species) populations. Heat stress biomarkers can indicate where warming is most likely affecting fish populations; however, we often lack clear classifications that separate individuals with and without heat stress needed to make these tools operational. We conducted a heat expo
Authors
Vanessa R. von Biela, Amy M. Regish, Lizabeth Bowen, Ashley E. Stanek, Shannon C. Waters, Michael P. Carey, Christian E. Zimmerman, Jonathon Gerken, Daniel Rinella, Stephen D. McCormick
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Alaska Science Center

Borealization of nearshore fishes on an interior Arctic shelf over multiple decades

Borealization is a type of community reorganization where Arctic specialists are replaced by species with more boreal distributions in response to climatic warming. The process of borealization is often exemplified by the northward range expansions and subsequent proliferation of boreal species on the Pacific and Atlantic inflow Arctic shelves (i.e., Bering/Chukchi and Barents seas, respectively).
Authors
Vanessa R. von Biela, Sarah M. Laske, Ashley E. Stanek, Randy J Brown, Kenneth H. Dunton
By
Alaska Science Center

Barrier islands influence the assimilation of terrestrial energy in nearshore fishes

We examined the relative importance of landscape features on estuarine fish trophic structure and dependence on terrestrial organic matter (OMterr) in four barrier island lagoon systems along the Alaskan Beaufort Sea coast. Our study compared two relatively large lagoon systems characterized by high river discharge and relatively free ocean water exchanges (central region near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska)
Authors
Ashley E. Stanek, Vanessa R. von Biela, Sarah M. Laske, Rebecca L. Taylor, Kenneth H. Dunton
By
Alaska Science Center

Non-USGS Publications**

Lewis, T.M., A.E. Stanek, and K.B. Young. (2020) Bears in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve: Sightings, human interactions, and research 2010–2017. Natural Resource Report NPS/GLBA/NRR—2020/2134. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. https://irma.nps.gov/Datastore/Reference/Profile/2274442
Stanek A.E., Wolf N., Welker J.M., Jensen S. (2019) Experimentally derived incorporation rates and diet-to-tissue discrimination values for carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in gray wolves (Canis lupus) fed a marine diet. Canadian Journal of Zoology 97:1225–1230. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2019-0049
Verbrugge L.A., A.E. Stanek, B. Mangipane. (2018) The gray wolf. Pages 153-165. In: C.A. Woody (ed.), Bristol Bay Alaska: Natural Resources of the Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems. J. Ross Publishing.
Stanek A.E., N. Wolf, G. Hilderbrand, B. Mangipane, D. Causey, J.M. Welker. (2017) Seasonal foraging strategies of Alaskan gray wolves (Canis lupus) in an ecosystem subsidized by Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.). Canadian Journal of Zoology. 95:555-563. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0203
Stanek A.E. (2014) Dietary ecology of Alaskan gray wolves: seasonal foraging strategies in a salmon subsidized ecosystem. MS Thesis. University of Alaska Anchorage. http://www.depts.washington.edu/pnwcesu/reports/J8W07100010_P10AC00483_Final_Report.pdf

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

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