SFOS Newsletter
Spring 2011
Castellini takes the helm as dean of SFOS
Michael Castellini has been selected as the dean of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Castellini has served as interim dean since last June. Supporting research and professional service in fisheries and marine science across Alaska will be an integral part of his work for the school, he said.
"SFOS has a strong mission of teaching, research and service, and because of our facilities throughout the state, we can readily work on a broad and diverse range of topics relevant to the state of Alaska."
A marine biologist who specializes in marine mammal physiology, Castellini has been a faculty member at SFOS for 22 years. He has published more than 100 scientific journal articles and book chapters, served on more than 40 graduate student committees and participated in more than 20 scientific field expeditions on land, sea and ice. Read more...
![Download PDF [4MB]](graphics/cover-300.jpg "Download PDF [4MB]")
Click on the image to download the Spring 2011 newsletter (4MB PDF).
Castellini takes the helm as
dean of SFOS
Michael Castellini has been selected as the dean of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Castellini has served as interim dean since last June.
UAF, Marinette Marine, NSF celebrate Sikuliaq Keel‑Laying
The keel-laying ceremony for the R/V Sikuliaq was held on Monday, April 11, in Marinette, WI. More than 80 people attended the ceremony. Vera Alexander and Bob Elsner served as co-sponsors for the Sikuliaq, and their initials were welded onto a steel plate that will be affixed to the Sikuliaq's keel for its working life.
GREETINGS FROM THE DEAN
It is hard to believe that we are already coming towards the end of spring semester, 2011. Commencement is being planned, I am reading final versions of theses and we are looking forward to the sunshine and warmth of summer in Alaska.
Bering Sea chill yields fatter plankton, changes in
pollock diet
Despite a 30-year warming trend, the last three years in the Bering Sea have been the coldest on record. A University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist says that the cold temperatures have helped produce larger zooplankton in the Bering Sea, which may be changing the way Walleye pollock are feeding.
Kodiak lands new Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program agent
by Doug Schneider
After a nearly 15-year absence, Kodiak once again has a Marine Advisory Program (MAP) agent. Julie Matweyou, a Kodiak fisherman and environmental scientist, was hired in late February to fill the position, which has been vacant since 1997.
Alaska Sea Grant taps local biologist for Marine Advisory Program agent in Nome
by Doug Schneider
Nome resident and state marine mammal biologist Gay Sheffield has been hired as the new Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program (MAP) agent for the Bering Strait region. She is based at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Northwest Campus in Nome.
Mathis wins Alaska Ocean Leadership Award
Jeremy Mathis, assistant professor of chemical oceanography, has received the Alaska Ocean Leadership Award for Marine Research. The award was given by the Alaska SeaLife Center at the Alaska Marine Gala on Sunday, January 16.
FEATURED FACULTY – Lara Dehn
Lara Dehn fell in love with animals, and with learning, at an early age. Her love for both continues to this day. Dehn is an assistant professor of marine biology, and an arctic marine mammal expert, at the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
STANDOUTS – Faculty and Staff News
SFOS scientists contribute to award-winning Life in the World's Oceans
A book by the Census of Marine Life, with chapters by SFOS scientists, has won two national awards. The book, Life in the World's Ocean: Diversity, Distribution, and Abundance, by Alasdair McIntyre, won two American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) awards.
26 years after quake, Port Valdez invertebrates stabilized
It took 26 years for marine invertebrates living on the Port Valdez seafloor to stabilize after Alaska's Great Earthquake of 1964, according to a scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
SELMR and MESAS hold workshop on traditional ecological knowledge and polar research
DEVELOPMENT – A Student Perspective: Nathan Stewart
by Teresa Thompson, Development Officer
Juneau team takes fifth consecutive Tsunami Bowl trophy
Can you name the chemical that is the principal source of energy at many of Earth's hydrothermal vents? Seth Brickey can tell you: The answer is "hydrogen sulfide."
Shannon Atkinson teaches high school students all about "Dem Bones"
Shiway Wang with a red legged kittiwake.
FACILITY SPOTLIGHT – Seward Marine Center
The Seward Marine Center is a busy place these days with
the primary focus on preparations to support and operate the
261-foot R/V Sikuliaq which will be home ported at SMC.
R/V Sikuliaq Update
by Daniel Oliver, Director, Seward Marine Center
From an article for the University-National Oceanographic
Laboratory System (UNOLS)
FEATURED STUDENT – Michael Garvin
Michael Garvin has been fascinated by fish, especially salmon, since he was five years old. Although he has always had a passion for fish, he took a circuitous route to his present position as a graduate student working on salmon genetics.
Marine biology graduate student earns Encyclopedia of Life Fellowship
SFOS students earn awards at Alaska Marine Science Symposium
Students win awards at American Fisheries Society Alaska annual meeting
FEATURED PHOTO - Spring 2011
Kodiak students win awards at Pacific Fisheries Technologists Conference
FEATURED ALUMNUS – Sara Gilk-Baumer
by Tracy Kalytiak
Sara Gilk-Baumer is a fisheries geneticist at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's gene conservation laboratory. She received her master's degree in fisheries.
FEATURED PHOTO
Graduate students Christy Gleason (M.S. oceanography) and Michael Kong (Ph.D. oceanography) check a conductivity-temperature-depth profiler after draining the seawater from it. Gleason was collecting bottom seawater to determine trace metal concentrations as part of her thesis.
School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences Newsletter
Managing editor and designer: Carin Bailey Stephens
The SFOS Newsletter is published in the spring and the fall. To submit your news to the SFOS Newsletter, e-mail news@sfos.uaf.edu. For more information about what's happening at SFOS, visit our website at www.sfos.uaf.edu or contact Carin Stephens, SFOS public information officer, at 907-322-8730 or via e-mail at cbstephens@alaska.edu. Follow SFOS news on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CarinStephens/.
The UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences conducts world–class marine and fisheries research, education and outreach across Alaska, the Arctic and Antarctic. More than 60 faculty scientists and 160 graduate and undergraduate students are engaged in building knowledge about Alaska and the world's coastal and marine ecosystems.
