Unified Interior Regions
Region 11: Alaska
Alaska Science Center
4210 University Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
Phone: (907) 786-7000
Volcano Science Center
4230 University Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
Phone: (907) 786-7497
Climate Adaptation Science Center
4230 University Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
Phone: 907-301-7830
Regions L2 Landing Page Tabs
USGS in Alaska engages approximately 400 scientists and support staff working across 3 major centers with a combined annual science budget of about $65 million. In just the last 5 years, USGS in Alaska has produced scientific benefits resulting from over 1000 publications and about 250 Technical Reports.
USGS Glaciers and Climate
Scientists with the USGS Glaciers and Climate Project study the process and impacts of glacier change, including sea-level rise, water resources, environmental hazards and ecosystem links. At the core of this research are mass balance measurements at five glaciers in the United States. Since the 1960s, these glaciers have been studied using direct observations of glaciers and meteorology. The...
Land-Sea Linkages in the Arctic
The Arctic is undergoing historically unprecedented changes in weather, sea ice, temperature and ecosystems. These changes have led to greater coastal erosion, greater export of freshwater, and changes to marine and terrestrial ecosystems, habitats, and productivity, among other trends. Meanwhile, many believe the Arctic “amplifies” large climate changes during both warm periods and ice ages...
Alaska Science Center Seminar Series
The USGS Alaska Science Center has a monthly seminar series that runs from October through May. This series highlights the multiple research programs that are taking place across all disciplines at the center.
Genomic Mechanisms that Underlie Lack of Recovery of Prince William Sound Herring Following the 1990s Collapse
In the decades following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS), it has become increasingly apparent that oil can be toxic at extremely low concentrations to developing fish embryos including herring, where some toxic phenotypes may be apparent during embryogenesis, but some are delayed until later in life. Therefore, acute and lingering oil may act as an insidious selective force within...
Herring Disease Program
Using an approach that involves a combination of field- and laboratory-based studies, we are investigating fish health factors that may be contributing to the failed recovery of Pacific herring populations in Prince William Sound, AK. Field studies are providing infection and disease prevalence data to inform the population models, serological data that indicate the prior exposure history and...
Alaska Seismic Hazard Map
The National Seismic Hazard Maps developed by the USGS show the spatial probability of peak earthquake-driven ground motion levels. Since the last revisions to the map for Alaska in 2007, scientists have made significant advances in understanding active faulting, fault slip rates, and fault behavior.
Alaska-Aleutian Subduction Zone Studies
Our research team is exploring seismic and aseismic slip along the Alaska-Aleutian arc and studying the prehistoric record of megathrust earthquakes and tsunamis along the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone
Seismic and Aseismic Slip: Tectonic tremor and associated slow slip events represent a newly discovered part of the earthquake cycle. This research aims to...
Characterizing the Active Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault System
This research aims to better characterize the earthquake potential of the southern Fairweather Fault in order to provide more accurate fault source data for the USGS National Seismic Hazard Map. Our approach interrogates lidar data and satellite imagery, applies paleoseismological methods to examine earthquake history, and leverages partnerships with USGS scientists from Colorado and...
Monitoring and Research Boreal Partners in Flight Projects
Boreal Partners in Flight has five major regional projects designed to monitor broad-scale trends in populations of landbirds. There are also many projects throughout Alaska that address specific research questions or local monitoring needs.
Alaska Landbird Monitoring Survey
Alaska provides breeding habitats for 135 species of landbirds, half of which breed predominantly north of the U.S.-Canada border. The road-based North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) provides some data on population trends in Alaska but most northern species are inadequately monitored because of a paucity of roads. Boreal Partners in Flight thus developed the Alaska Landbird Monitoring...
Festivals Celebrating Birds in Alaska
Here are a few festivals celebrating birds around the state of Alaska.
Meeting and Project Summaries for Boreal Partners in Flight
Information on topics discussed by Boreal Partners in Flight (BPIF) working groups organized by year.
USGS research activities relevant to Alaska have yielded more than 9400 historical publications. This page features some of the most recent newsworthy research findings.
Search USGS publications for Alaska
Arctic Science for Decision Maker
2019 USGS Alaska Annual Science Report
Use of genetic mark-recapture to estimate breeding site fidelity and philopatry in a threatened sea duck population, Alaska-breeding Steller’s eiders
The Steller’s eider (Polysticta stelleri) is a sea duck that breeds in Arctic tundra regions of Russia and Alaska. The Alaska-breeding population is listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act because of a perceived contraction of their breeding range in North America. Understanding demographic rates of the listed population is...
Safine, David; Lindberg, Mark S.; Martin, Kate; Talbot, Sandra L.; Swem, Ted; Pearce, John M.; Stellrecht, Neesha; Sage, Kevin; Riddle, Ann E.; Fales, Kyrstal; Hollmen, Tuula E. Through thick and thin: Sexing Bristle-thighed Curlews Numenius tahitiensis using measures of bill depth
Birds often exhibit diagnostic traits that differ among individuals of the same species with regard to factors like sex, age, or breeding status. Shorebirds exhibit a wide diversity of colors, shapes, and sizes of their bills, and these traits are commonly used to determine the sex of individuals. In curlews (genus Numenius), length alone...
Ruthrauff, Daniel R.; Handel, Colleen M.; Tibbitts, Lee; Gill, Robert E. Tracking the migration of Pacific Golden-Plovers from nonbreeding grounds at Moorea, French Polynesia, using Pinpoint GPS-Argos tags
We used Pinpoint GPS-Argos tags to track migration of Pacific Golden-Plovers Pluvialis fulva in 2017 and 2018 from Moorea Island, at the extreme southeastern edge of the species’ winter range. Of 20 tagged birds, 13 uploaded locations during all or part of their northward migration. The birds departed in mid-April traveling a long (8,250...
Johnson, Oscar W. ; Tibbitts, Lee; Weber, Michael F. ; Bybee, David R. ; Goodwill, Roger H. ; Bruner, Andrea ; Smith, Errika J. ; Buss, Emmalee L.; Waddell, Trinity Q.A. ; Brooks, Daxton ; Smith, Carolyn ; Meyer, Jean-Yves Ecology of influenza A viruses in wild birds and wetlands of Alaska
Alaska represents a globally important region for the ecology of avian-origin influenza A viruses (IAVs) given expansive wetlands in this region which serve as habitat for numerous hosts of IAVs that disperse among four continents during the annual cycle. Extensive sampling of wild birds for IAVs in Alaska since 1991 has greatly extended...
Ramey, Andrew M.; Reeves, Andrew B. Validation of a screening method for the detection of colistin-resistant E. coli containing mcr-1 in feral swine feces
A method was developed and validated for the detection of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli containing mcr-1 in the feces of feral swine. Following optimization of an enrichment method using EC broth supplemented with colistin (1 µg/mL) and vancomycin (8 µg/mL), aliquots derived from 100 feral swine fecal samples were spiked with of one of five...
Chandler, Jeffrey C; Franklin, Alan B.; Bevins, Sarah N.; Bentler, Kevin T; Bonnedahl, Jonas; Ahlstrom, Christina; Bisha, Bledar; Shriner, Susan A. Gulls as sources of environmental contamination by colistin-resistant bacteria
In 2015, the mcr-1 gene was discovered in Escherichia coli in domestic swine in China that conferred resistance to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort used in treating multi-drug resistant bacterial infections in humans. Since then, mcr-1 was found in other human and animal populations, including wild gulls. Because gulls could disseminate the...
Franklin, Alan B.; Ramey, Andrew M.; Bentler, Kevin T; Barret, Nicole L; McCurdy, Loredana M; Ahlstrom, Christina; Bonnedahl, Jonas; Shriner, Susan A.; Chandler, Jeffrey C Post-release monitoring of a stranded and rehabilitated short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) reveals current-assisted travel
A subadult female short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus), stranded on the northeastern Gulf of Mexico coast of Florida in June 2017, was rehabilitated for 38 days and then monitored with a satellite-linked, time-depth recording tag for 32 days after being released off the West Florida Shelf. The individual, “Gale,” appeared to...
Tyson Moore, Reny B; Douglas, David C.; Nollens, Hendrik H.; Wells, Randall S. Storm impacts on phytoplankton community dynamics in lakes
In many regions across the globe, extreme weather events such as storms have increased in frequency, intensity, and duration due to climate change. Ecological theory predicts that such extreme events should have large impacts on ecosystem structure and function. High winds and precipitation associated with storms can affect lakes via short‐term...
Stockwell, Jason D.; Doubek, Jonathan P.; Adrian, Rita; Anneville, Orlane; Carey, Cayelan C.; Carvalho, Laurence; Frassl, Marieke A.; Domis, Lisette N. De Senerpont; Ibelings, Bas W; Grossart, Hans-Peter; Dur, Gaël; Lajeunesse, Marc J.; Lewandowska, Aleksandra M.; Llames , María E.; Matsuzaki, Shin-Ichiro S.; Nodine, Emily; Noges, Peeter; Patil, Vijay P.; Pomati, Francesco; Rinke, Karsten; Rudstam, Lars G.; Rusak, James A.; Salmaso, Nico; Seltmann, Christian T.; Straile, Dietmar; Thackeray, Stephen J.; Thiery, Wim; Urrutia‐Cordero, Pablo; Venail, Patrick; Verburg, Piet; Woolway, R. Iestyn; Zohary, Tamar; Andersen, Mikkel R.; Bhattacharya, Ruchi; Hejzlar, J.; Janatian, Nasime; Kpodonu, Alfred T. N. K. ; Williamson, Tanner J.; Wilson, Harriet Regional ocean models indicate changing limits to biological invasions in the Bering Sea
Minimal vessel traffic and cold water temperatures are believed to limit non-indigenous species (NIS) in high-latitude ecosystems. We evaluated whether suitable conditions exist in the Bering Sea for the introduction, survival, and reproduction of NIS. We compiled temperature and salinity thresholds of known NIS and compared these to ocean...
Droghini, Amanda ; Fischbach, Anthony S.; Watson, Jordan ; Reimer, Jesika Waterfowl occurrence and residence time as indicators of H5 and H7 avian influenza in North American Poultry
Avian influenza (AI) affects wild aquatic birds and poses hazards to human health, food security, and wildlife conservation globally. Accordingly, there is a recognized need for new methods and tools to help quantify the dynamic interaction between wild bird hosts and commercial poultry. Using satellite-marked waterfowl, we applied Bayesian joint...
Humphreys, John M.; Ramey, Andy; Douglas, David C.; Mullinax, Jennifer M.; Soos, Catherine; Link, Paul T.; Walther, Patrick; Prosser, Diann J. Cryptic and extensive hybridization between ancient lineages of American crows
Most species and therefore most hybrid zones have historically been defined using phenotypic characters. However, both speciation and hybridization can occur with negligible morphological differentiation. Recently developed genomic tools provide the means to better understand cryptic speciation and hybridization. The Northwestern Crow (Corvus...
Slager, David; Epperly, Kevin; Ha, Renee; Rohwer, Sievert; Woodall, Christopher W.; Van Hemert, Caroline R.; Klicka, John Are migratory waterfowl vectors of seagrass pathogens?
Migratory waterfowl vector plant seeds and other tissues, but little attention has focused on the potential of avian vectoring of plant pathogens. Extensive meadows of eelgrass (Zostera marina) in southwest Alaska support hundreds of thousands of waterfowl during fall migration and may be susceptible to plant pathogens. We recovered DNA of...
Menning, Damian M.; Ward, David H.; Wyllie-Echeverria, Sandy; Sage, Kevin; Gravley, Megan C.; Gravley, Hunter; Talbot, Sandra L.Browse a selection of videos, audio clips, images, and more from a wide range of science topics covered by USGS!
"Science for a Changing World" - watch the short film here!
Documentary on walruses here!
Watch the first-ever footage of a polar bear on Arctic sea ice!
Join USGS geologists as they collect lava samples from Kilauea Volcano.
Watch researchers in the Arctic!
Short-tailed Shearwater carcass near beach shoreline in Bristol Bay
Short-tailed Shearwater die-off in the Bering Sea. Emaciated Short-tailed Shearwater carcasses littered the beaches of Bristol Bay during the summer of 2019.
Emaciated Short-tailed Shearwater carcass and debris on beach, Alaska
Short-tailed Shearwater die-off in the Bering Sea. Emaciated Short-tailed Shearwater carcasses littered the beaches of Bristol Bay during the summer of 2019.
ANSEP student Tatiana Korthuis recording data on USGS research vessel
Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) student Tatiana Korthuis recording fish catch data on board the USGS research vessel Alaskan Gyre in Herring Bay, Alaska. This was part of a USGS study to monitor forage fish and seabirds in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
Canada goose (Branta canadensis), Anchorage, AK
Canada goose (Branta canadensis), Anchorage, AK
A Common Murre on the water near its colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Northern Fulmars, Black-legged Kittiwakes, and Common Murres have all been tested for and contained harmful algal bloom (HAB) toxins in Alaska. Since 2015, the USGS has worked with a variety of stakeholders to develop testing methods and research projects to better understand the geographic extent, timing and impacts of algal toxins in Alaska marine ecosystems. For more
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ANSEP student Jakob Sipary holds a red-throated loon, Alaska
Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) student Jakob Sipary holds a red-throated loon on the Canning River Delta, Alaska, July 2019 as part of a USGS study on loon marine habitat use areas. Jakob was an intern for the summer with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Taku Glacier, Alaska retreat
2019 Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) students during a four day and 83 kilometers ski traverse across Taku Glacier, carrying all their food, water, clothing, tents, and science gear as they help measure the mass balance along the way.
Kasilof River sonar on a bridge
Kasilof River sonar on a bridge
Tazlina River bridge
Tazlina River bridge
A Common Murre holds a Pacific sand lance near Gull Island in Alaska
Northern Fulmars, Black-legged Kittiwakes, and Common Murres have all been tested for and contained harmful algal bloom (HAB) toxins. Since 2015, the USGS has worked with a variety of stakeholders to develop testing methods and research projects to better understand the geographic extent, timing and impacts of algal toxins in Alaska marine ecosystems.
Beaver lodge and drained impoundment in tributary of the Noatak River
Beaver lodge and drained impoundment in tributary of the Noatak River, Noatak National Preserve
Impounded water above beaver dam on the Wrench Creek
Impounded water above beaver dam on the Wrench Creek, Noatak National Preserve
Browse a collection of stories about prominent USGS scientists and projects in Alaska news.
A recent interpretive review of scientific literature performed by the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Rochester sheds light on the interactions of gas hydrates and climate.
The U.S. Geological Survey is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Christian Zimmerman as the new director of their Alaska Science Center in Anchorage, Alaska. Zimmerman succeeds Dr. Mark Shasby who held the position for the past six years.
Water users around the country can now view the past and simulated future of hydrologic processes.
Caribou, North America’s wild reindeer, have lives apart from their famous role on Christmas Eve. Reindeer and caribou are large, cold-adapted, herding herbivores related to deer, elk and moose.
To learn more about how these arctic antler-bearers spend the other 364 days of the year, we talked to USGS caribou expert Dr. Layne Adams, who has studied these animals for more than 30 years.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — This year marks the 50th anniversary of one of the longest continuous glacier research efforts in North America.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Some gulls in southcentral Alaska are carriers of antibiotic resistant strains of E. coli, according to a new study co-authored by the U.S. Geological Survey.
New research from the U.S. Geological Survey and partners illustrates how climate change is perceived among different generations of indigenous residents in subarctic Alaska. While all subjects agreed climate change is occurring, the older participants observed more overall changes than the younger demographic.
Two snapshots from Landsat show the extent of a landslide in an Alaska National Park.
A team of USGS scientists spent 10 days in the wilderness, exploring one of the fastest-moving faults in America
Information relating to fish biology, locations and effects of climate change will help guide future research and management decisions
MEDIA ADVISORY
Twenty middle-school girls from Washington and Oregon are participating in the second annual “GeoGirls” outdoor volcano science program at Mount St. Helens, jointly organized by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Mount St. Helens Institute.
Stay up-to-date with what is happening in the Alaska Region by checking out our different social media accounts. You can also contact Alaska Regional Office staff or Center Directors for more information.
Contacts
Locations
Alaska Science Center
Phone: (907) 786-7000
Fax: (907) 786-7020
Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center
USGS Volcano Science Center
Phone: 360-993-8900
Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/contact.php
Phone: 907-786-7497
USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO)
vhpweb@usgs.gov
Phone: 360-993-8900
Fax: 360-993-8980
USGS California Volcano Observatory (CalVO package delivery)
askcalvo@usgs.gov
Phone: 650-329-5083
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO)
yvowebteam@usgs.gov
Phone: 360-993-8906
Anchorage Field Office - Water
Phone: 907-786-7000
Fairbanks Field Office - Water
Phone: 907-479-5645
Juneau Field Office - Water
Phone: 907-586-7216
Social Media
The Regional Office provides active input to a variety of external collaborations by:
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Serving on science advisory boards (eg. NPRB, AOOS, Alaska Sea Grant, NSSI, WMO);
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Serving on technical working groups for organizations (eg. AGC, IARPC, CAFF, and Arctic SDI);
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Providing frequent peer review for decisions by external institutions (eg. IPCC, Fulbright Scholar Program, NFWF, and regional journals).