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.
National Park Service Visitor Spending Effects
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the Nation’s most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the Nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports a considerable amount of economic activity within park gateway communities. USGS economists collaborate with the National Park Service social science program to estimate NPS...
North American Waterfowl Management Plan
The ultimate success of North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) depends on maintaining relevance to stakeholders and society. In order to be relevant, a first step is to better understand what people value in regard to waterfowl and their habitats. Without this information, NAWMP population, habitat, and people objectives may not reflect stakeholder and societal values; and management...
Wildlife Potential Habitat Forecasting Framework (WildCast)
WildCast (WILDlife Potential Habitat ForeCASTing Project) is a completed project led by USGS, in collaboration with the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. WildCast was devised to provide models for projecting future land cover and wildlife habitat conditions in northwest Alaska under potential scenarios of climate change, and to provide an...
Conservation of native salmonids in South-Central Alaska
The proliferation of introduced northern pike in Southcentral Alaska is an urgent fishery management concern because pike are voracious predators that prey heavily on juvenile salmonids. Eradication of pike is not possible in connected freshwater networks, so managers must develop control methods that reduce pike populations to less destructive numbers. We are using field and bioenergetics...
Alaska Critical Minerals Cooperative
The project developed means to use several large legacy digital databases together in GIS to identify areas with mineral resource potential for critical minerals in Alaska.
Alaska Geophysical Survey Interpretation
Available geophysical data for Alaska have not been fully exploited. Project objectives were to conduct systematic analysis of existing gravity, aeromagnetic and airborne electromagnetic data to map geologic trends, structural geologic and tectonic patterns, and identify key lithologies for direct integration with geologic framework and mineral potential studies.
The "Snow Plow Theory"* of Early-Arriving Tsunamis
Release Date: JUNE 1, 2015
What is a splay fault, and how can they affect tsunamis?
* completely contrived term by this author, not a scientific term or theory
Webinar: From Icefield to Ocean: Impacts of Glacier Change in Alaska
Check out this webinar to learn more about glacial loss in the Gulf of Alaska.
Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well
Field Report
COOK NAWQA Data Clearinghouse
This page will serve as the repository for data collected by the Cook Inlet Basin NAWQA team using NAWQA sampling protocols. Data sets collected using NAWQA protocols but not collected as part of the Cook Inlet Basin NAWQA program are identified with an asterisk (*). A list of ...
Water Resources for Alaska GIS datasets Statewide Coverages
Legacy Data for AK Precipitation, Hydrologic Unit Map, and Streamflow analysis regions for AK and conterminous basins in Canada.
Alaska Ecoregions Mapping
Legacy Data: Ecoregions of Alaska
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
Alaska Shorebird Conservation Plan, Version III
In recognition of declines among perhaps half of Alaska’s breeding shorebirds, ongoing or emerging threats to shorebirds and their habitats, and considerable knowledge of Alaska’s shorebirds acquired over the past decade, the Alaska Shorebird Group decided that the Alaska Shorebird Conservation Plan was due for updates. Similar to Version II (2008...
Ruthrauff, Daniel R. Satellite tracking of gulls and genomic characterization of fecal bacteria reveals environmentally mediated acquisition and dispersal of antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Gulls (Larus spp.) have frequently been reported to carry Escherichia coli exhibiting antimicrobial resistance (AMR E. coli); however, the pathways governing the acquisition and dispersal of such bacteria are not well-described. We equipped 17 landfill-foraging gulls with satellite transmitters and collected gull fecal samples longitudinally from...
Ahlstrom, Christina; Bonnedahl, Jonas; Woksepp, Hanna; Hernandez, Jorge; Reed, John; Tibbitts, Lee; Olsen, Björn; Douglas, David C.; Ramey, Andrew M. The rise of an apex predator following deglaciation
AimSea otters (Enhydra lutris) are an apex predator of the nearshore marine community and nearly went extinct at the turn of the 20th century. Reintroductions and legal protection allowed sea otters to re‐colonize much of their former range. Our objective was to chronicle the colonization of this apex predator in Glacier Bay, Alaska, to help...
Hooten, Mevin; Esslinger, George G. Changes in behavior are unable to disrupt a trophic cascade involving a specialist herbivore and its food plant
Changes in ecological conditions can induce changes in behavior and demography of wild organisms, which in turn may influence population dynamics. Pacific black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) nesting in colonies on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) in western Alaska have declined substantially (~50%) since the turn of the century. Pacific black...
Lohman, Madeleine G; Riecke, Thomas V.; Acevedo, Cheyenne R; Person, Brian T.; Schmutz, Joel A.; Uher-Koch, Brian D.; Sedinger, James S. Energetic costs of aquatic locomotion in a subadult polar bear
Most marine mammals rely on swimming as their primary form of locomotion. These animals have evolved specialized morphologies, physiologies, and behaviors that have enabled them to efficiently move through an aquatic environment (Williams 1999). Such adaptations include body streamlining, modified plantar surfaces for propulsion, and...
Pagano, Anthony M.; Cutting, Amy; Nicassio-Hiskey, Nicole; Hash, Amy; Williams, Terrie M. Serologic evidence for influenza A virus exposure in three loon species (Gavia spp.) breeding in Alaska
Limited information exists about exposure to influenza A viruses (IAVs) in many wild waterbird species, including loons. We analyzed serum samples from breeding adult Pacific (Gavia pacifica), Red-throated (Gavia stellata), and Yellow-billed (Gavia adamsii) loons sampled at three locations along the coast of Alaska, US from 2008 to 2017 to gain a...
Uher-Koch, Brian D.; Spivey, Timothy J.; Van Hemert, Caroline R.; Schmutz, Joel A.; Jiang, Kaijun; Wan, Xiu-Feng; Ramey, Andrew M. Energy allocation and feeding ecology of juvenile chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) during transition from freshwater to saltwater
Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) populations near their northern range extent in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Alaska have undergone major changes in population trajectory and illuminated the lack of basic information on juvenile ecology. This study fills information gaps on the early life history of chum salmon at northern latitudes....
Burril, Sean E.; von Biela, Vanessa R.; Hillbruber, Nicola; Zimmerman, Christian E.
Measurement of long-term channel change through repeated cross-section surveys at bridge crossings in Alaska
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been working with Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) since 1993 to provide hydraulic assessments of scour for bridges throughout Alaska. The purpose of the program is to evaluate, monitor, and study streambed scour at bridges in Alaska; this includes surveying streambed...
Dworsky, Karenth L.; Conaway, Jeffrey S. Extreme reduction in nutritional value of a key forage fish during the Pacific marine heatwave of 2014–2016
Pacific sand lance Ammodytes personatus are a key forage fish in the North Pacific for many species of salmon, groundfish, seabirds, and marine mammals and have historically been important to predators in relatively warm years. However, extreme declines in the nutritional value of sand lance in Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA, during...
von Biela, Vanessa R.; Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Piatt, John F.; Heflin, Brielle; Schoen, Sarah K.; Trowbridge, Jannelle; Clawson, Chelsea Migratory goose arrival time plays a larger role in influencing forage quality than advancing springs in an Arctic coastal wetland
With warmer springs, herbivores migrating to Arctic breeding grounds may experience phenological mismatches between their energy demands and the availability of high quality forage. However, the timing of high quality forage relative to the timing of grazing is often unknown. In coastal western Alaska, approximately one million migratory geese...
Beard, Karen H.; Choi, Ryan T.; Leffer, A. Joshua; Carlson, Lindsay; Kelsey, Katharine C.; Schmutz, Joel A.; Welker, Jeffrey Influenza A prevalence and subtype diversity in migrating teal sampled along the United States Gulf Coast
Wild birds in the order Anseriformes are important reservoirs for influenza A viruses (IAV); however, IAV prevalence and subtype diversity may vary by season, even at the same location. To better understand the ecology of IAV during waterfowl migration through the Gulf Coast of the United States (Louisiana and Texas), surveillance of blue-winged (...
Carter, Deborah; Link, Paul T.; Walther, Patrick; Ramey, Andrew M.; Stallknecht, David E.; Poulson, Rebecca L. The black brant population is declining based on mark recapture
Annual survival and recruitment in black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) have declined since the 1990s, yet aerial surveys of the global population have been stable or even increasing over the past decade. We used a combination of a Lincoln estimator based on harvest information and band recoveries, and marked‐unmarked ratios in bag checks in 1...
Sedinger, James S.; Riecke, Thomas V.; Leach, Alan G.; Ward, David H.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!
Multichannel seismic-reflection profile, QCF fault
Multichannel seismic-reflection profile showing deformed sediment layers on the Pacific plate, just seaward of the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault near the south end of the study area. Location of profile shown by yellow line on trackline map, above. km, kilometer; m, meter; s, second.
An aerial view of McKinley Lake, outside of Cordova, Alaska
McKinley Lake, outside of Cordova, Alaska. This is the site of deployment of limnocorrals for an Elodea spp. experiment.
Capturing Black-legged Kittiwakes for study in Cook Inlet, Alaska
Brielle Heflin and Brian Robinson capturing Black-legged Kittiwakes at the base of the colony in Cook Inlet, Alaska. These birds were used in adult physiology studies.
A Tufted Puffin in the sea in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska
A Tufted Puffin swimming in the sea near Gull Island in Lower Cook Inlet , Alaska
USGS Public Lecture: Warm Ice—Dynamics of Rapidly Changing Glaciers
- Glacier Numerology – The how big, how long, how thick, how much, how often, of glacier science.
- Glacier Photography – While a picture may be worth a thousand words, a collection of images may tell a complete forensic story.
- Glacier Geophysics – How new technologies are being introduced to reexamine and refine decades old glacier analyses.
Knik River bridge
Knik River bridge
Black-legged Kittiwake with herring near Gull Island, Cook Inlet, AK
Black-legged Kittiwake with a herring in it's bill. These seabirds were foraging near Gull Island in Cook Inlet, Alaska.
Scientist holding a herring dip net of forage fish in Cook Inlet, AK
Brian Robinson holding a herring dip net of forage fish in Cook Inlet, Alaska
Geologist collecting igneous rock samples in Lake Clark Nat'l Park
The photo was taken by Erin Todd during helicopter-supported geologic fieldwork in Lake Clark National Park this past summer. The project is funded by the USGS Mineral Resources Program that is focused on investigating the bedrock geology of the national park and surrounding areas through geologic mapping and supporting analytical work such as geochemistry and
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Black-legged Kittiwakes foraging for fish in Cook Inlet, Alaska
Black-legged Kittiwakes foraging for fish in Cook Inlet, Alaska.
Geologist collecting rock samples exposed in a glacial stream valley
USGS research geologist Jamey Jones collects multiple samples of rocks exposed in a glacial stream valley near Lake Clark.
Geologist stands on granite dike intruding darker granodiorite
USGS research geologist Jamey Jones stands on a dike of granite intruding darker granodiorite, with helicopter in background.
Browse a collection of stories about prominent USGS scientists and projects in Alaska news.
The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), an agency of the Department of the Interior, has allocated $7 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to 15 universities and state agencies nationwide.
USGS will Grant Universities $5 Million to Beef Up Public Safety Grants totaling $5 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are being awarded to 13 universities nationwide to upgrade critical earthquake monitoring networks and increase public safety.
Levels of chloride, a component of salt, are elevated in many urban streams and groundwater across the northern U.S., according to a new government study. Chloride levels above the recommended federal criteria set to protect aquatic life were found in more than 40 percent of urban streams tested. The study was released today by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The winter distribution of Pacific brant, a small, dark sea goose, has shifted northward from low-temperate areas such as Mexico to sub-Arctic areas as Alaska's climate has warmed over the last four decades, according to a just-released article in Arctic.
Residents and critical infrastructure in the nation's six highest-risk volcanic areas—including the Alaska region-- will benefit from increased monitoring and analysis as a result of Recovery Act funds being channeled into volcano monitoring, Secretary Salazar announced today.
When Alaska's Kasatochi Volcano erupted on Aug. 7, 2008, it virtually sterilized Kasatochi Island, covering the small Aleutian island with a layer of ash and other volcanic material several meters thick.
The eruption also provided a rare research opportunity: the chance to see how an ecosystem develops from the very first species to colonize the island.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world's oceans, but relatively impoverished in many natural resources, particularly oil and gas. It is the home to a large fisheries industry that is seemingly in peril, and the place itself, a peaceful namesake, can erupt into cataclysmic disasters on a moment's notice.
Alaska's Redoubt Volcano continues to emit a plume of water vapor, gas and minor ash after its 19th successive explosion this past weekend. Scientists believe the volcano has entered a new period of cyclical lava dome growth marked by small earthquakes and intermittent tremors.
Scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory and the Unified Command will host a news conference at 1:00PM AKDT (5:00PM EASTERN TIME) at the USGS Alaska Science Center in the Glenn Olds Hall Conference Room, Anchorage, AK, to discuss the continuing eruption of Mount Redoubt Volcano.
High resolution photos are available on the Alaska Volcano Observatory, Redoubt Activity Web site.
Mount Redoubt Volcano, 106 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, erupted explosively more than 10 times this week, sending ash skyrocketing as high as 65,000 feet into the air.
The eruption of Redoubt poses a threat to national and international aviation as volcanic ash is sent into the busy North Pacific flight paths between North America and Asia.
Scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory will host a news conference at 1:30PM AKDT (5:30PM EASTERN TIME) at the USGS Alaska Science Center in the Glenn Olds Hall Conference Room, Anchorage, AK, to discuss the continuing eruption of Mount Redoubt Volcano and yesterday's (March 26) overflight of the volcano.
Scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory will host a news conference at 1:30PM AKDT (5:30PM EASTERN TIME) at the USGS Alaska Science Center in the Glenn Olds Hall Conference Room, Anchorage, AK, to discuss the continuing eruption of Mount Redoubt Volcano.
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
