KEYNOTE: A seabird’s view of the past, present, and future of Alaska’s oceans

About The Presentation:
Alaska’s marine ecosystems are connected physically and biologically, and seabirds move within, among, and beyond these oceans. Seabirds teach us about ecosystem stability, transformation, and adaptation. This presentation will discuss seabird trends in Alaska, the approaches used to better understand seabirds, and thereby the oceans on which they (and we) depend.

About Kathy:
Dr. Kathy Kuletz has been engaged in research and management of seabirds in Alaska for over 40 years. Her graduate degrees (derived from Alaska studies) include a Masters from the University of California, Irvine and a Ph.D. from the University of Victoria, British Columbia. Kathy is retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service but remains involved in national and international projects relevant to seabird ecology and conservation. As principal investigator on multiple studies, Kathy has conducted and overseen offshore surveys to examine factors driving seabird distribution and abundance and the impacts of climate change. Kathy has served on the Science & Statistical Committee of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, the Executive Council of the Pacific Seabird Group, the Short-tailed Albatross Recovery Team, the Circumpolar Seabird Expert Network, and various Arctic Council and PICES working groups. She has advised damage assessment and spill response teams, and international conservation committees.

KEYNOTE: A deep-dive into the zooplankton of the Gulf of Alaska

About The Presentation:
Zooplankton come in all shapes and sizes. While the “surface” waters of the Gulf of Alaska have been studied for decades, the communities in deeper water are virtually undescribed except for a few keystone species. Dr. Hopcroft will showcase the exquisite beauty of the deep-water macro fauna, including some species new to science.

About Russ:
Dr. Russ Hopcroft is a Professor of Oceanography at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He received his Master’s degree in 1988, and his Ph.D. in 1997 from the University of Guelph, Canada, working on tropical plankton. Before joining UAF in 2000, he did a Post-doctoral Fellowship at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), where he was heavily involved in the use of ROVs, in situ technologies, and traditional oceanographic surveys, to study the oceans. He has broad interest in all zooplankton groups from the ubiquitous copepods to the most fragile gelatinous taxa that are rendered unrecognizable when sampled by standard collecting techniques. In addition to a rich publication record, he is broadly recognized for his images of live zooplankton that are widely distributed in the media and online.

KEYNOTE: Selangeq ‘To become aware’ on the importance of incorporating Traditional Knowledge into Western Science

About The Presentation:
The stewardship of the land and animals has been looked after for thousands of years by observations of Indigenous peoples. As concern grows over declining Yukon River chinook and chum salmon, fishers are looking for ways to share their knowledge and participate in research. Serena will highlight how YRDFA incorporates traditional knowledge into the programs they operate.

About Serena:
Serena ‘Cuucitcuar’ Alstrom Fitka grew up in St. Mary’s on the Lower Yukon River. Her grandparents are Fred and Domitilla (Afcan) Alstrom of St. Mary’s and Tommy and Martina (Sipary) Heckman of Pilot Station. Her parents are William and Hilda Alstrom of St. Mary’s. Serena is married to Chris Fitka of Marshall. Together they achieved their higher education goals by supporting one another as they cared for their three children while living in Fairbanks. From the age of 14-28, Serena worked for her Tribe as a Summer Youth Worker in her adolescent years and grew into positions such as Secretary, Tribal Administration, and Environmental Program Director. The many successes through working for her Tribe and the Yukon River communities pushed her to go back to college to further her opportunities to serve in leadership roles. Serena has a degree in Business Administration from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with Leadership Distinction. Serena has served on the St. Mary’s City Council, United Way of Valdez, Statewide Mentor for Alaska Youth for Environmental Action, North Pacific Fishery Management Council Salmon Bycatch Committee. She currently serves on the Yukon River Panel Traditional Knowledge Committee and Communication Committee, Arctic River’s Indigenous Advisory Council, and Alaska Salmon Research Task Force AYK Working Group. Since joining YRDFA in 2020, Serena has brought experience she has learned into the organization’s long-standing achievements with Traditional Knowledge at the forefront of their projects.

KEYNOTE: OSCAR-Nominated ‘Haulout’ Documentary Screening & Population Biology of Pacific Walrus

About The Presentation:
Oscar-nominated short film Haulout follows Russian marine biologist, Maxim Chakilev, as he observes and documents the massive Pacific walrus haulout at Cape Heart Stone in the Chukchi Sea. Evgenia Arbugaeva, photographer and filmmaker, will introduce the film, followed by the film screening, and finally Dr. Anthony Fishbach will close the keynote discussing the population, conservation, and management of Pacific walrus from a U.S. perspective.

About Evgenia:
Evgenia Arbugaeva is a photographer of the Russian Arctic. She was born in Tiksi, a small port town of the Sakha Republic on the Arctic Sea near the mouth of the Lena River. She studied management in Moscow and photography at the International Center of Photography in New York City. She subsequently returned to Yakutsk and has developed a career photographing and documenting people in the far north of Russia, particularly hunters, scientists, and response to economic change on Russia's northern coast.

About Anthony:
Anthony Fischbach is a research wildlife biologist with the US Geological Survey at the Alaska Science Center. His research focuses on population monitoring and modeling, applying population biology to problems of conservation and subsistence, and managing records of population biology field work. He has an extended history studying Pacific walrus, both through satellite and field observations in collaboration with scientists on both sides of the Bering Strait.