SFOS Newsletter
Fall 2010

Greetings from the Dean

by Michael Castellini, Interim Dean
UAF School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences

It has been an amazing summer for SFOS with many changes, advances and new and exciting opportunities. In late spring, we learned that Dean Denis Wiesenburg was going to be leaving us at the end of May to become the Vice President for Research at the University of Southern Mississippi. In the flurry of activity to make the transition as successful as possible, we had multiple meetings with Denis, and our staff and faculty spent considerable time moving his computer files and worked on discussing the ongoing projects that he had initiated. Of course, we threw in a significant number of parties andgoing away events, too!

On June 1, I assumed the role of Interim Dean for SFOS and on that day, my e-mail traffic increased about two-fold and it has been very busy since. Fortunately, we were able to hire an outstanding executive assistant for our office, Mary Parsons, who has done a remarkable job keeping track of everyone, getting contracts for the new year out the door and generally maintaining a calm atmosphere for us all.

We had a very successful year establishing new classes and recruiting new students into both our graduate and undergraduate programs. This fall, we will have about 70 undergraduates, which is much higher than we have ever had before. We have also begun teaching formal classes during the summer months and opened a long-awaited fisheries teaching laboratory in a newly refurbished wing of the Arctic Health Research Building.

We have brought on one new faculty member this summer (Ana Aguilar-Islas) and will begin the search to hire a replacement in Juneau for Nicola Hillgruber, who will leave SFOS in September.

Perhaps the largest hiring push was the successful effort initiated by the Marine Advisory Program to secure annual state funding for six MAP agents throughout Alaska. This was a huge campaign that ended up with dozens and dozens of letters being written to the Alaska State Legislature to support this budget request that had moved its way through MAP, SFOS, the Provost, Chancellor, UA statewide and to the Regents. Our thanks to our many friends and supporters throughout the state who wrote to help with this legislation.

I hope you enjoy this edition of the SFOS Newsletter and please let us know what you would like to learn more about, or to comment on something you have read in this issue.

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Greetings from the Dean
It has been an amazing summer for SFOS with many changes, advances and new and exciting opportunities. In late spring, we learned that Dean Denis Wiesenburg was going to be leaving us at the end of May to become the Vice President for Research at the University of Southern Mississippi.

UAF establishes Ocean Acidification Research Center
UAF has created a new research center dedicated to studying ocean acidification in Alaska. Jeremy Mathis, assistant professor of chemical oceanography and an ocean acidification expert, is the director of the center.

New sea star species named after Howard Feder
One of the new species discovered by Stephen Jewett, Heloise Chenelot and Max Hoberg in the Aleutian Islands in 2006-2007 has been named after SFOS professor emeritus Howard Feder.

Weingartner wins Usibelli award for research
In April, Tom Weingartner, professor of oceanography at SFOS, received the 2010 Usibelli Distinguished Research Award.

New energy device to power oceanographic equipment
After two years of design and development, oceanographers at UAF have installed a new alternative energy device along the arctic coast of Alaska.

Cordova Marine Advisory agent recalls trip to Louisiana oil spill
by Doug Schneider
In 1989, Torie Baker was a commercial salmon fisherman in Cordova, Alaska, when the supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, spilling 11 million gallons of heavy Alaskan crude oil onto some 1,500 miles of Alaska beaches.

Hollmen named interim science director at Alaska SeaLife Center
Tuula Hollmen, research associate professor at SFOS, has been appointed the interim science director for the Alaska SeaLife Center. Hollmen has worked as an SFOS faculty member at the Alaska SeaLife Center for eight years.

John Kelley retires after 40 years at UAF
John Kelley, professor of chemical oceanography at SFOS, has retired after 40 years of teaching, research and service at the University of Alaska.

SFOS remembers Senator Ted Stevens
by Michael Castellini, Interim Dean
We at the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences were saddened to learn of the death of former Senator Ted Stevens in August. It is difficult to enumerate the many contributions Senator Stevens has made over the years to fisheries and fisheries science in Alaska.

FEATURED FACULTY – Franz Mueter, Assistant Professor of Fisheries
Franz Mueter has been an assistant professor of fisheries at SFOS in Juneau since 2008. He received his Ph.D. in fisheries oceanography from UAF, where he studied changes in the groundfish communities in the Gulf of Alaska over time. He also received master's degrees in statistics and biological oceanography from UAF.

STANDOUTS – Faculty and Staff News

SFOS faculty to participate in Census of Marine Life final celebration
It has been a "decade of discovery" for the Census of Marine Life and several SFOS faculty who have worked on various Census projects over the years.

Marine Advisory Program secures funding
by Doug Schneider
Five Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program offices that faced an uncertain future earlier this year will stay open, and a sixth position will be filled, since Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell signed the state's 2011 operating budget.

FACILITY SPOTLIGHT – Freshwater fisheries lab opens in Fairbanks
In July, UAF celebrated a ribbon-cutting for a new fisheries laboratory complex in the west wing of the Arctic Health Research Building.

DEVELOPMENT – Why Give, How You Can Make a Difference, and How to Go about Giving
by Teresa Thompson, Development Officer

Crowley donates $20,000 to SFOS, UAF for scholarships
Crowley Maritime Corporation has donated $20,000 to the University of Alaska Foundation to fund four $5,000 scholarships.

Gliders pass test in Southeast Alaska, make history in the Chukchi Sea
Underwater gliders may change how scientists track fish.

Scientist says Chatanika whitefish are making a comeback
Humpback whitefish in the Chatanika River are recovering from a population crash in the 1980s, according to a scientist at UAF.

R/V Sikuliaq Update
by Daniel Oliver, Director, Seward Marine Center

FEATURED STUDENT – Miranda Westphal, M.S. Fisheries
by Tara Borland, Proposal Coordinator
Miranda is a fisheries student working toward her master's degree in fisheries. Miranda earned a bachelor's degree in marine science at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida. She came up to Alaska in 2008 to research juvenile red king crabs.

STANDOUTS - Student News
MESAS and SELMR students, faculty hold retreat.

BON VOYAGE – Congratulations to our spring, summer 2010 graduates!

FEATURED ALUMNUS – John Hilsinger
by Tracy Kalytiak
Nearly 40 years ago, John Hilsinger listened as one of his friends talked about how he wanted to attend graduate school in UAF's fisheries program. John Hilsinger is the director of the Alaska Department of Fish & Game's Commercial Fisheries Division.

FEATURED PHOTO
Graduate students Jesse Coleman and Christine Woll work in the field on the Kulukak River in southwest Alaska. Coleman and Woll are collaborating on a juvenile salmon habitat mapping project while working towards their master's degrees in fisheries with advisor Trent Sutton. Photo Courtesy of Jesse Coleman.

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