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Ecosystems of Southcentral Alaska: The Coastal Alaska Project
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Southcentral Alaska's Kachemak Bay is world-renowned for its diverse marine life and its spectacular wilderness landscape. This remarkable Bay contains one of the most important upwelling currents and largest tidal extremes globally, making it one of the most productive marine environments in the world.
Kachemak Bay State Park, our project location, offers easy access to this unparalleled wilderness area consisting of intertidal flats, forest, alpine tundra, and glaciers. The region provides critical habitat for a variety of terrestrial and marine wildlife and fishes, including brown and black bears, moose, salmon, halibut, sea otters, and various species of whales. Kachemak Bay also offers us the unique opportunity to assess management strategies involving multiple stakeholders, as many of these species are import
ant not only ecologically but also economically, for commercial fisheries, recreation, and ecotourism.
THE PROJECT
In this project, team members will take part in firsthand investigations of the ecosystems in Kachemak Bay and the wildlife species they support. We will examine the importance of the marine environment as critical habitat for marine wildlife, an area of active education and research that includes the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and a region important to commercial and recreational fishing industries. We will also closely examine the specialized environments within Kachemak Bay State Park, the various terrestrial ecosystems the park protects su
ch as glaciers, alpine tundra, and intertidal flats, and the critical species that require them for survival, including bear, moose, and salmon.
Another important component of the field study will be an exploration of how watershed processes in Kachemak Bay affect the marine ecosystems and species. Our topics include how land use and water quality are connected; how this affects salmon; the of role global climate change on the area's icefield, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems; and an onsite analysis of one of the key glaciers associated with Harding Icefield.
Finally, we will look at the important social components to conservation and management in this region, as we gain an understanding of both the delicate balance between resource extraction and conservation, and the 
history of marine and terrestrial species management in this part of Alaska. We will look at the relationships among commercial and recreational fisheries, subsistence fishing, hunting, and collecting, critical habitat preservation for protected species, potential future management decisions including oil drilling and nearby mining, and local tourism and ecotourism industries.
After starting in Homer, Alaska as our initial base to meet with local researchers, scientists, and land managers, we will spend the majority of the project across the bay, where we will immerse ourselves in the Alaskan wilderness, utilizing frontcountry and backcountry field sites, incorporating day hikes and a backpacking segment to investigate the diverse ecosystems and species the spectacular Kachemak Bay State Park protects.
PROJECT LEADERS
DANIEL HAGAMAN is an anthropologist and naturalist with over ten years experience working on conservation and environmental education projects in diverse international and U.S. environments.
ESTHER ALSUM is an ecologist with field experience around the world. Her research priorities include botany, river ecology, and water management strategies.