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Sarah Laske, Ph.D.

Research Interests: Landscape ecology, community ecology, aquatic food webs, and the influence of extreme climates and hydrology on fish ecology

Professional Experience

  • 2017 – Present Fish Biologist, USGS Alaska Science Center, Anchorage

  • 2016 – 2017 Student trainee (Ecology), USGS Alaska Science Center, Anchorage

  • 2011 – 2016 Graduate Research Assistant, Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

  • 2010 – 2011 Research Assistant, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie

  • 2007 – 2010 Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie

  • 2005 – 2007 Fisheries Technician, Illinois Natural History Survey, Lake Michigan Biological Station, Zion, IL

  • 2003 – 2004 Fisheries Technician, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, IL

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D. 2017 University of Alaska, Fairbanks Fisheries

  • M.S. 2010 University of Wyoming, Laramie Zoology

  • B.S. 2004 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution

Affiliations and Memberships*

  • American Fisheries Society

  • Society for Freshwater Science

Science and Products

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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.
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Alaska Science Center
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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.
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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.
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Alaska Science Center
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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.
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Releasing ninespine stickleback into a fishless pond

Arctic Lake Food Webs

From 2011 to 2013 we investigated freshwater food webs of Arctic Coastal Plain lakes in Alaska to improve our understanding how Arctic freshwater food webs may respond to landscape change the warmer, drier future.
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Alaska Science Center
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Arctic Lake Food Webs

From 2011 to 2013 we investigated freshwater food webs of Arctic Coastal Plain lakes in Alaska to improve our understanding how Arctic freshwater food webs may respond to landscape change the warmer, drier future.
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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.
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Species Management Research Program, Alaska Science Center
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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.
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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...
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Species Management Research Program, Wildlife Program (unpublished), Alaska Science Center
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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...
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Thawing ice wedges create ponds on the Arctic Coastal Plain

Arctic Coastal Plain Studies

The Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) is a large region of low-lying, lake-rich land on the North Slope of Alaska. This region is underlain by thick ground ice, which is susceptible to erosion and thaw. These physical changes are likely to alter ecosystems by changing the availability of habitats and food resources upon which wildlife depends. Our studies on the ACP aim to understand the link between...
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Land Management Research Program, Alaska Science Center
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Arctic Coastal Plain Studies

The Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) is a large region of low-lying, lake-rich land on the North Slope of Alaska. This region is underlain by thick ground ice, which is susceptible to erosion and thaw. These physical changes are likely to alter ecosystems by changing the availability of habitats and food resources upon which wildlife depends. Our studies on the ACP aim to understand the link between...
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Nearshore Fish Isotope Values, Beaufort Sea, Alaska, 2017-2019

This dataset contains isotope values of muscle tissue from fish collected in the nearshore Beaufort Sea, Alaska in summers 2017-2019.
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Alaska Science Center

Insect Emergence from Arctic Coastal Plain Thaw Ponds, 2012-2013

This dataset provides information on the identity and number of insects that emerged from thaw pond basins on the central Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska, during the summer growing season in 2012 and 2013. Collections were made using passive floating emergence traps in pond centers and margins from four types of ponds: low centered polygons, troughs, small coalescent, and large coalescent. A single t
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Alaska Science Center

Fish Species Composition and Diet Information in Lakes of the Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska, 2011-2013

This dataset provides information on fish species composition and their diet information for 16 lakes and 16 ponds at two locations on the central Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska. In one table, we provide the presence of fish species and the total species count for each lake or pond sampled. This table also includes metrics of surface water connectivity to the stream network. In a second table, stoma
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Alaska Science Center
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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)
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Alaska Science Center

Arctic insect emergence timing and composition differs across thaw ponds of varying morphology

Freshwater ponds provide habitats for aquatic insects that emerge and subsidize consumers in terrestrial ecosystems. In the Arctic, insects provide an important seasonal source of energy to birds that breed and rear young on the tundra. The abundance and timing of insect emergence from arctic thaw ponds is poorly understood, but understanding these fluxes is important, given the role of insects in
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Alaska Science Center

A manipulative thermal challenge protocol for adult salmonids in remote field settings

Manipulative experiments provide stronger evidence for identifying cause-and-effect relationships than correlative studies, but protocols for implementing temperature manipulations are lacking for large species in remote settings. We developed an experimental protocol for holding adult Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and exposing them to elevated temperature treatments. The goal of the e
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Ecosystems, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Alaska Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)

Transcriptomic response to elevated water temperatures in adult migrating Yukon River Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) declines are widespread and may be attributed, at least in part, to warming river temperatures. Water temperatures in the Yukon River and tributaries often exceed 18°C, a threshold commonly associated with heat stress and elevated mortality in Pacific salmon. Untangling the complex web of direct and indirect physiological effects of heat stress on salmon i
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Ecosystems, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Alaska Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)

Evidence of prevalent heat stress in Yukon River Chinook salmon

Migrating adult Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are sensitive to warm water (>18 °C), with a range of consequences from decreased spawning success to early mortality. We examined the proportion of Yukon River Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) exhibiting evidence of heat stress to assess the potential that high temperatures contribute to freshwater adult mortality in a northern Pacific salmon popu
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Ecosystems, Alaska Science Center

Diversity of diatoms, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish varies in response to different environmental correlates in Arctic rivers across North America

Climate change poses a significant threat to Arctic freshwater biodiversity, but impacts depend upon the strength of organism response to climate‐related drivers. Currently, there is insufficient knowledge about Arctic freshwater biodiversity patterns to guide assessment, prediction, and management of biodiversity change.As part of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program's first freshwater
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Ecosystems, Alaska Science Center

Fish growth rates and lake sulphate explain variation in mercury levels in ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska

Mercury concentrations in freshwater food webs are governed by complex biogeochemical and ecological interactions that spatially vary and are often mediated by climate. The Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska (ACP) is a heterogeneous, lake-rich landscape where variability in mercury accumulation is poorly understood. Earlier research indicated that the level of catchment influence on lakes varied spati
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Alaska Science Center

Surface water connectivity controls fish food web structure and complexity across local- and meta-food webs in Arctic Coastal Plain lakes

The need for theories that address food web assembly and complexity over multiple spatial scales are critical to understanding their stability and persistence. In a meta-food web – an integrated network of local food webs – spatial heterogeneity in physical processes may have profound effects on food web function and energy flow. In the Arctic, surface water connectivity plays a vital role in dete
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Ecosystems, Alaska Science Center

Circumpolar patterns of Arctic freshwater fish biodiversity: A baseline for monitoring

Climate change, biological invasions, and anthropogenic disturbance pose a threat to the biodiversity and function of Arctic freshwater ecosystems. Understanding potential changes in fish species distribution and richness is necessary, given the great importance of fish to the function of freshwater ecosystems and as a resource to humans. However, information gaps limit large-scale studies and our
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Ecosystems, Alaska Science Center

Generalist feeding strategies in Arctic freshwater fish: A mechanism for dealing with extreme environments

Generalist feeding strategies are favoured in stressful or variable environments where flexibility in ecological traits is beneficial. Species that feed across multiple habitat types and trophic levels may impart stability on food webs through the use of readily available, alternative energy pools. In lakes, generalist fish species may take advantage of spatially and temporally variable prey by co
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Alaska Science Center

Nutrient dynamics in partially drained arctic thaw lakes

Thaw lakes are ubiquitous on arctic coastal plains (ACPs). While many thaw lakes have steep banks, stable water levels, and static surface areas, others only partially fill their basins and vary in area over the summer. These partially drained lakes (PDLs) are hydrologically connected to the wetlands immediately surrounding them. Heat and nutrient availability limit aquatic productivity on ACPs, a
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Alaska Science Center

Top-down control of invertebrates by Ninespine Stickleback in Arctic ponds

Despite their widespread presence in northern-latitude ecosystems, the ecological role of Ninespine Stickleback Pungitius pungitius is not well understood. Ninespine Stickleback can occupy both top and intermediate trophic levels in freshwater ecosystems, so their role in food webs as a predator on invertebrates and as a forage fish for upper level consumers probably is substantial. We introduced
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Cooperative Research Units
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Scenic view of lake in Wrangell St. Elias National Park. Wood oars and fishing poles in boat with cloudy sky and mountains.
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Scientist holding Longnose sucker in hand. These fish were collected as part of a study examining mercury in lake food webs.
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Scientist holding two Burbot (Lota lota), a freshwater fish, in hands.
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Two scientists in boat fishing for lake trout on a lake in Alaska. Mountains in the background.
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Scientist holding Round whitefish in hand. Whitefish were collected as part of a study examining mercury in lake food webs.
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Scientist adjusts a fyke net in a lake. Fyke nets are used to non-lethally capture fish.
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Arctic grayling on beach laying on driftwood and grasses.
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Lake trout with stomach contents visible below the fish consist primarily of slimy sculpin. Dorsal muscle collection also.
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Scientist collects benthic macroinvertebrates using a kick net in a lake. Male scientist holds bucket for samples.
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Male scientist with fishing rod and female scientist using a plankton on small boat on a lake. Green hills in background.
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Cross section of a lake trout otolith collected from a fish. Otoliths, also known as 'earstones."
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Scientist in boat wearing gloves while filtering phytoplankton from lake water for analysis of mercury content.
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Biologist collects water from a boat at lake in Lake Clark National Park.
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Juvenile sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka).
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Biologists process a lake trout, removing muscle and otoliths for the determination of mercury bioaccumulation.
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Scientist holding lake trout in boat. Lake Clark National Park study examines mercury biomagnification in lake food webs.
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Two National Park Service biologists wearing floatation vest fishing in boat for lake trout.
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Juvenile Arctic char in plastic container captured from a lake in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
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Pink salmon captured near Kaktovik, Alaska
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Flock of birds over Arey Island near Kaktovik on the coastline of the Beaufort Sea
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Fourhorn sculpin captured near Kaktovik, Alaska
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Science and Products

*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government