Kimberly A Kloecker
Ecology and physiology of sea otters, contaminants and biomarkers.
Biography
Education
M.S. 1993 University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA Marine Science
B.S. 1989 Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI Biology
Professional Experience
1998 - Present Ecologist, USGS, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
1996 - 1998 Statistical Assistant, USGS, Alaska Biological Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
1993 - 1995 Peace Corps Volunteer, U.S. Peace Corps, Fiji
1992 - 1992 Specialist, R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer Weddell Sea, Antarctica
Science and Products
Nearshore Marine Ecosystem Research
Nearshore ecosystems include many resources that are of high ecological, recreational, subsistence, and economic value. They also are subject to influences from a wide variety of natural and human-caused perturbations, which can originate in terrestrial or oceanic environments. Our research is designed to evaluate sources of variation in the nearshore and how they influence resources of high...
Sea otter population collapse in southwest Alaska: Assessing ecological covariates, consequences, and causal factors
Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) populations in southwest Alaska declined substantially between about 1990 and the most recent set of surveys in 2015. Here we report changes in the distribution and abundance of sea otters, and covarying patterns in reproduction, mortality, body size and condition, diet and foraging behavior, food availability, health...
Tinker, M Tim; Bodkin, James L; Bowen, Lizabeth; Ballachey, Brenda; Bentall, Gena; Burdin, Alexander; Coletti, Heather; Esslinger, George G.; Hatfield, Brian; Kenner, Michael C.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Konar, Brenda; Miles, A. Keith; Monson, Daniel; Murray, Michael J.; Weitzman, Ben; Estes, James A Timelines and mechanisms of wildlife population recovery following the Exxon Valdez oil spill
Research and monitoring activities over the 28 years since the T/V Exxon Valdez ran aground and spilled oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska have led to an improved understanding of how wildlife populations were damaged, as well as the mechanisms and timelines of recovery. A key finding was that for some species, such as harlequin ducks...
Esler, Daniel N.; Ballachey, Brenda E.; Matkin, Craig O.; Cushing, Daniel; Kaler, Robert; Bodkin, James L.; Monson, Daniel; Esslinger, George G.; Kloecker, Kimberly A. Gulf Watch Alaska nearshore component: Monitoring site locations from Prince William Sound, Katmai National Park and Preserve, and Kenai Fjords National Park
These data are part of the Gulf Watch Alaska (GWA) long term monitoring program, nearshore monitoring component. Specifically, these data describe site locations for rocky intertidal, mussel sampling, soft sediment bivalve sampling, and eelgrass bed sampling in the northern Gulf of Alaska within the GWA program. The dataset consists of two comma...
Coletti, Heather A.; Kloecker, Kim; Bodkin, James L.; Dean, Thomas A. Variability within nearshore ecosystems of the Gulf of Alaska
Nearshore marine habitats, which represent the interface among air, land and sea, form a critical component of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) ecosystem. As an interface, the nearshore facilitates transfer of water, nutrients and biota between terrestrial and oceanic systems, creating zones of high productivity. The nearshore provides a variety of...
Ballachey, Brenda E.; Bodkin, James L.; Coletti, Heather A.; Dean, Thomas A; Esler, Daniel N.; Esslinger, George G.; Iken, Katrin; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Konar, Brenda; Lindeberg, Mandy; Monson, Daniel; Shepherd, Marnie; Weitzman, Ben P. Pacific blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus) abundance in the Gulf of Alaska: Synthesis of Gulf Watch data (2006-2013) and a consideration of major recruitment events (1989-2013)
Pacific blue mussels (Mytilus trossulus) are abundant and wide-spread primary consumers in the intertidal zone throughout the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). As a component of the Gulf Watch Alaska monitoring program, they represent a key member of intertidal communities and an important prey resource to a number of nearshore vertebrate predators. Our goal...
Monson, Daniel H.; Dean, Thomas; Lindeberg, M.R.; Bodkin, James L.; Coletti, Heather A.; Esler, Daniel N.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Weitzman, Ben P.; Ballachey, Brenda E. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Project final report: Monitoring for evaluation of recovery and restoration of injured nearshore resources
In 2012, we completed three consecutive years of full field sampling in WPWS for EVOS Restoration Project 10100750. Nearshore monitoring was conducted in collaboration with the NPS SWAN I&M program and, beginning in 2012, as part of the EVOSTC GWA program. Data collection was done in accordance with standard operating procedures set forth...
Ballachey, Brenda E.; Bodkin, James L.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Dean, Tom; Colletti, Heather A Timelines and mechanisms of wildlife population recovery following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
In March 1989, the T/V Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska and spilled an estimated 42 million liters of crude oil (Wolfe et al. 1994). This oil subsequently spread over more than 26,000 km2 of water surface in PWS and the Gulf of Alaska and landed on more than 1000 km of shoreline (Spies et al. 1996, Short et al. 2004;...
Esler, Daniel N.; Bodkin, James L.; Ballachey, Brenda E.; Monson, Daniel; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Esslinger, George G.
2013 update on sea otter studies to assess recovery from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, Prince William Sound, Alaska
On March 24, 1989, the tanker vessel Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling an estimated 42 million liters of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. Oil spread in a southwesterly direction and was deposited on shores and waters in western Prince William Sound (WPWS). The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) was one of more than 20 nearshore...
Ballachey, Brenda E.; Monson, Daniel H.; Esslinger, George G.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Bodkin, James L.; Bowen, Lizabeth; Miles, A. Keith Synthesis of nearshore recovery following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill: sea otter liver pathology and survival in Western Prince William Sound, 2001 – 2008
We examined livers and liver biopsies collected from captured sea otters in WPWS, 2001–2008, to determine whether indicators of liver health correlated with history of oil contamination from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Sea otters captured in oiled areas had a significantly higher proportion of livers with gross pathological change,...
Ballachey, Brenda E.; Monson, Daniel H.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Esslinger, George G.; Mohr, F.C.; Lipscomb, T.P.; Murray, M.J.; Howlin, S. Long-term effects of the 'Exxon Valdez' oil spill: Sea otter foraging in the intertidal as a pathway of exposure to lingering oil
The protracted recovery of some bird and mammal populations in western Prince William Sound (WPWS), Alaska, and the persistence of spilled 'Exxon Valdez' oil in intertidal sediments, suggests a pathway of exposure to consumers that occupy nearshore habitats. To evaluate the hypothesis that sea otter (Enhydra lutris) foraging allows access to...
Bodkin, James L.; Ballachey, Brenda E.; Coletti, Heather A.; Esslinger, George G.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Rice, Stanley D.; Reed, John A.; Monson, Daniel H. Sea otter studies in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
No abstract available.
Bodkin, James L.; Ballachey, Brenda E.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Esslinger, George G.; Monson, Daniel H.; Coletti, H.A.; Estes, James A. Sea otter studies in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve: annual report 2002
Since 1995, the number of sea otters in Glacier Bay proper has increased from around 5 to more than 1200. Sea otter distribution is mostly limited to the Lower Bay, south of Sandy Cove, and is not continuous within that area. Concentrations occur in the vicinity of Sita Reef and Boulder Island and between Pt. Carolus and Rush Pt. on the west...
Bodkin, James L.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Esslinger, George G.; Monson, Daniel H.; Coletti, Heather A.; Doherty, Janet