Current Projects
Pribilof Island Seabird Youth Network 2012-current
Project Summary:
The Seabird Youth Network is a partnership between the Pribilof School District, the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island, the City of St. Paul, Tanadgusix Corporation, the St. George Traditional Council, St. George Island Institute, the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, and the wider scientific community. The network creates opportunities for youth to learn about seabirds with the aim of building local capacity for the collection of long-term seabird monitoring data on the Pribilof Islands. Please see our website: http://www.seabirdyouth.org and two short documentaries http://www.seabirdyouth.org/making-a-documentary/ http://www.seabirdyouth.org/camp-movie/
Summer Seabird Camps are run annually on both St. George and St. Paul Island. Camps are designed to provide hands-on scientific experience and new skills, encourage critical thinking, increase understanding about local resources, and foster creative growth.
You can read more about the 2018 camp on the SYN blog: http://seabirdyouth.org/category/2018-seabird-camps/
Ann also works with high school students on St. George who are employed through the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association (APICDA) intern program as field assistants for on-going seabird projects.
The Little Dippers 2018-current
Ann currently teaches an outdoor pre-school group run by the Prince William Sound Science Centre in Cordova. The emphasis of this group is nature, exploration, outdoor skills, teamwork, and art. https://pwssc.org/education/little-dippers/
“Resolving the annual pelagic distribution of Tufted Puffins: Associations with oceanographic features and isotopic niche”: 2018-current
PIs: Kristen Gorman and Mary Anne Bishop (Prince William Sound Science Center). Funded by the North Pacific Research Board.
Ann is part of the outreach team for this project: posting educational blogs on the Seabird Youth Network website http://seabirdyouth.org/category/tufted-puffin-winter-biology/, and teaching students in Cordova (Alaska) about puffins through a partnership with the local school district and the Native Village of Eyak (NVE).
“From bycatch to breeding colonies: Determining the source of Northern Fulmar bycatch in Alaska longline fisheries”: 2017-current
A companion Outreach project funded by the North Pacific Research Board (PI, Jessie Beck). The research project is called “From bycatch to breeding colonies: Determining the source of Northern Fulmar bycatch in Alaska longline fisheries”. PIs Dr. John Carlos Garza (U.C. Santa Cruz), and Jessie Beck (Oikonos)
Ann is part of the outreach team for this project. Responsibilities include:
- Posting educational blogs on the Seabird Youth Network website: http://seabirdyouth.org/category/fulmar-genetics/
- Assisting with the development of an educational project game designed by Thalassa Education and Oikonos.
- Including information about seabird bycatch and mitigation measures (see Lesson Four) in a Seabird curriculum designed for elementary and middle-school students http://seabirdyouth.org/seabirds/ The curriculum has been translated into Russian, and is being taught on the Commander Islands (Russia) in addition to the Pribilof Islands.
Coordinating translation and communication of the results of this project with students living in the Commander Islands, Russia. This partnership involves the Commander Island Reserve, and biologists and educators who lead the annual summer culture camp on Bering Island.
Early breeding season responses of red-legged kittiwakes to changes of prey availability and linkages to the non-breeding stage.
PIs: Rachael Orben, Rosana Paredes, Alexander Kitaysky, Scott Shaffer. 2017-current
Ann is part of the outreach team for this project. Responsibilities include:
- Posting project blogs on the Seabird Youth Network website:
http://seabirdyouth.org/category/kittiwake-behavior/
- Facilitating project scientist SKYPE calls with students on the Pribilof Islands
Creating Seabird Camp activities that teach students about the importance of the Pribilof Islands for breeding red-legged kittiwakes, what questions the scientists are asking, and why this information is important.
Beringia Seabird Youth Network: 2015-2018
Funded by the National Park Service’s Shared Beringian Heritage Program.
Project PIs: Ann Harding (overall project leader), Svetlana Vozhikova (Commander Island School District); Dr. Olga Belonivich (Kamchatka Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography); Tonia Kushin (Pribilof School District); Sally Merculief (St. George Traditional Council); Karin Holser (St. George Institute); Pam Lestenkof and Lauren Divine (Aleut Community of St. Paul (ECO office); Pam Goddard (Thalassa Education): Ram Papish (independent artist); Kendra Bush and Marc Romano (Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge), and Priscilla Wohl (NORTAC).
There are strong links between the Commander (Russia) and Pribilof Islands (Alaska, USA). There is a shared cultural identity, with Unangan people on both island groups originating from the Aleutian Islands. Both island groups also hold important populations of northern fur seals and seabirds. The Pribilof Island Seabird Youth Network (SYN) provided a successful platform to reestablish connections and build new relationships between the youth on both island groups. Communication continues between communities, and there are hopes that Pribilof students can visit the Commander Islands in the future.
A summary of four major components of this project are provided below:
Seabird Curriculum:
The seabird curriculum was created and designed by Pam Goddard. Both Russian and English versions are available on the Seabird Youth Network website. Please see: http://seabirdyouth.org/seabirds/
Pen-pal communication:
Students on St. Paul, St. George and Nikolskoye have shared rounds of pen-pal letters over the course of the project. See:
http://seabirdyouth.org/pen-pal-letters-begin/
http://seabirdyouth.org/sharing-letters/
http://seabirdyouth.org/3678-2/
http://seabirdyouth.org/letters-of-welcome/
Sharing information about natural and cultural resources:
- Kids from St. Paul and the Commander Islands drew wildlife portraits to share with each other.
http://seabirdyouth.org/commander-island-wildlife/
http://seabirdyouth.org/seabird-portraits/
- Students at the St. Paul Seabird Camp created videos to share with students on the Commander Islands. These include both seabird facts and cultural stories.
http://seabirdyouth.org/project-videos/
- We set up an interactive google map of both the Pribilof and Commander Islands
http://seabirdyouth.org/commander-islands/
http://seabirdyouth.org/about-the-commander-islands/
http://seabirdyouth.org/pribilof-islands/
http://seabirdyouth.org/about-the-pribilof-islands/
- Paul Seabird Camp 2017 Community Event: Nikolskoye students shared Aleut songs and dance with the Pribilof students at the St. Paul Seabird Camp community event. The Unangam tunuu Speaking Listening Team (UTSLT) shared Unangan dance and songs: http://seabirdyouth.org/grand-finale/
- Students on St. Paul Island rehearsed and recorded Unangan songs to share with the Commander Islands during the 2016 Bering Sea Days
http://seabirdyouth.org/unangan-songs/
- Aquilina Lestenkof (director of Cultural Affairs at the Pribilof Islands Aleut Community of Saint Paul Island) met with students at Bering Sea Days, and told a story about the history of the fur-seal trade and the movement of people between islands. The story was videoed to share with friends at the Commander Islands. http://seabirdyouth.org/story-commander-pribilof-islands/
Youth Camps:
Seabird Camps were held on both St. George and St. Paul in 2015 and 2016. The etno-ecological camp “Aglakh” ran on Bering Island during 2015, 2016, and 2017. And, a special joint Seabird Camp was held on St. Paul Island in 2017, with students from both St. George and the Commander Islands attending. See blog posts for each camp-year: http://seabirdyouth.org/our-blog/
Pribilof Island Seabird Youth Network: Seabirds and Invasive Species. Funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). 2015-2017
Team: Ann Harding (Lead principal investigator); Gregg Howald, Island Conservation; Chris Gill, Coastal Conservation; Peter Hodum, Oikonos; Priscilla Wohl, Northern Research Technical Assistance Center; Pam Goddard, Thelassa Education; Tonia Kushin, Pribilof School District; Ram Papish; Heather Renner and Kendra Bush-St. Lewis, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge; Lauren Divine and Pam Lestenkof, Ecosystem Conservation Office, Pribilof Islands Aleut Communities of St. Paul; Sally Merculief, St. George Traditional Council; Karin Holser, St. George Institute.
The long-term goal of this project was to change behavior and understanding within the communities on the Pribilof Islands such that the introduction of rats or other mammals would be viewed as a negative and severe consequence to the community, with significant ecological and financial impacts. Seabird Camps and Bering Sea Days provided students enrolled in the Pribilof School District with a valuable opportunity to gain a deeper understanding about the global importance of the Pribilof Islands for breeding seabirds, and their vulnerability to invasive species. The students have considerably more understanding of the severe impacts that rats can have on island flora and fauna, as well as the importance of the existing Pribilof Island rat-prevention program. The Invasive Species and Seabirds curriculum is complete and available for free download on the Seabird Youth Network website http://seabirdyouth.org/invasive-species-and-seabird-curriculum. The Ecosystem Conservation Office, Aleut Community of St. Paul Island is working with the Pribilof School District to orientate teachers and ensure the long-term use of the curriculum within the school on St. Paul. Once the curriculum is translated into Spanish, Oikonos will distribute it to the local schools on Isla Mocha and the Juan Fernández Islands in Chile and work with teachers to build their capacity to implement the curriculum successfully. Education and outreach efforts are continuing to ensure a successful invasive species early detection and prevention program on the Pribilof Islands for the long-term.
Bering Sea Patch Dynamics Study
Project Summary:
This study integrates two projects from the North Pacific Research Board’s Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (BSIERP) and the Patch Dynamics Study http://bsierp.nprb.org. The objective is to determine why populations of seabirds (Black-legged Kittiwakes and Thick-billed Murres) and Northern Fur Seals are declining (St. Paul) or stable (St. George) on the Pribilof Islands and increasing at Bogoslof Island.
The three study colonies are located in different oceanographic domains: St. Paul is a shelf colony that is closest to the maximum extent of the winter ice; St. George is located near the shelf edge, and Bogoslof is an oceanic colony.
We are testing the hypothesis that climate-induced changes in the physical environment controls forage patch dynamics and alters food availability, which in turn drives opposite trends of productivity and population dynamics of piscivorous top-predators in the oceanic and continental shelf domains in the south-eastern Bering Sea.
Such a large question requires a multi-pronged approach. At-sea study components included the measurement of food availability, distribution of the predators at sea, and the nutritional value of key prey species. And, simultaneous colony-based work focused on the measurement of overall reproductive success, physiological condition, diet, and the collection of detailed foraging behavior of the seabirds and fur seals at each island.
Principal Investigators:
Andrew Trites, University of British Columbia
Kelly Benoit-Bird, Oregon State University
Vern Byrd, US Fish & Wildlife Service
Scott Heppell, Oregon State University
David Irons, US Fish & Wildlife Service
Sasha Kitaysky, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Kathy Kuletz, US Fish & Wildlife Service
Dan Roby, Oregon State UniversityLittle Auks as Marine Predators in a Changing Arctic
A large collaborative project comparing populations of Little Auks breeding in East Greenland, the west coast of Spitsbergen and Bear Island.
Funding:
- The French Polar Institute Paul-Emile Victor (Grant 388 to David Grémillet and Ann Harding).
- The National Science Foundation (grant 0612504 to Nina Karnovsky and Ann Harding).
Project Summary:
Numerous studies show that drastic climate change is currently taking place in the Arctic. The rapidly melting Arctic sea ice is predicted to have a large impact on the oceanographic circulation patterns in the Greenland Sea, with changes in the origin, strength and distribution of the different water masses affecting the associated marine ecosystem. In order to understand how such ecosystem changes will affect top marine predators, we studied the Little Auk, a high Arctic seabird that feeds almost entirely on tiny zooplankton.
We compared the breeding and feeding ecology of populations of Little Auks foraging in highly contrasted oceanographic conditions. Projects funded by the Norwegian Research Council, National Science Foundation (NSF) and Norwegian Polar Institute are studying Little Auk colonies on the west coast of Spitsbergen, and the French Polar Institute (IPEV) and NSF is funding the study of Little Auks in East Greenland. This collaborative effort officially began in 2005, with teams conducting boat-based surveys to quantify local oceanographic conditions, zooplankton availability and the distribution of feeding birds on both sides of the Greenland Sea. Teams at each study colony also collected information about how hard Little Auk parents were working, how successfully they were breeding, how fast chicks were growing and what prey species parents were feeding their chick. These data were used to quantify the physiological and behavioral response of birds to different foraging conditions, and assess their flexibility to changes in food availability. Information gathered from both regions will ultimately allow us to model the response of Little Auk populations to predicted change in the arctic marine environment associated with climate change.
In 2007 we hosted Mary Anne Pella-Donnelly, a PolarTREC teacher, in our East Greenland field camp. PolarTREC is an educational research experience, funded by the National Science Foundation and managed by the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S., in which K-12 teachers participate in polar research, working closely with scientists as a pathway to improving science education. More information can be found at http://polartrec.com/. You can follow Mary Anne’s field journal at http://polartrec.com/little-auks-in-greenland/overview
Cook Inlet Seabird and Forage Fish Study (CISeaFFS)
A large comparative project led by Dr. John Piatt at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Science Center. Study examined the behavioral and numerical response of breeding seabirds to varying food availability in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska.
Background:
A key to understanding seabird population dynamics is to characterize the biological responses of seabirds to fluctuations in prey abundance, distribution and quality. This long-term study formed the basis of the Alaska Science Center Seabird Project http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/seabird_foragefish/index.html between 1995-2000, and was designed to measure the foraging (functional) and population (numerical) responses of six seabird species to fluctuating forage fish densities at three seabird colonies in lower Cook Inlet. This involved at-sea surveys (hydroacoustic, trawling, seining) for forage fish while measuring aspects of seabird breeding biology and behavior at adjacent colonies. Funded by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill trustees under the Apex Predator Experiment program, and by USGS. Collaboration with Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks and several universities.
