Bering Sea Integrated Research Program

I had the privilege to join the North Pacific Research Board's annual Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (BSIERP) Principal Investigators meeting at the Alyeska resort yesterday on the way home from Seward.  Tara and Kellee had joined the first day - part of the hundred or so participants in this amazing research process.  The BSIERP (see http://bsierp.nprb.org/) is a 5 year (2007-2012) $50 million partnership between NPRB and the National Science Foundation designed to better understand how climate change is affecting the system.

Work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) includes:

• Climate, oceanography, and lower trophic levels
• Social science research

Work supported by the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB) includes

•  Climate, oceanography, and lower trophic levels:
• Forage species: Euphausiids, myctophids, and capelin
• Fish: Arrowtooth flounder, Pacific cod, and walleye pollock
• Marine mammals: Fur seals, walrus, and broad-scale whale distribution
• Seabirds: Thick-billed murres, black-legged kittiwakes, and broad-scale seabird distribution
• Local and traditional knowledge (LTK) 
• Education, outreach, and communication

Work supported by both NSF and NPRB

•  Ecosystem modeling
•  Data management

Obviously with such a diverse and ambitious program coordination is key.  The annual PI meeting is a great oportunity to bring the various key researchers together to both share knowledge and discuss cross-cutting questions. 

I was impressed with the dyamic nature of the conversations I was engaged in - especially the impressive interactions between traditional resource users from Bering sea communities and diverse groups of scientists (who often only have one or two opportunities to visit these areas).  Clearly, as this Nelson Island poster indicates, the rate and nature of change in those areas provides a great basis for a conversation!
I left with a renewed sense of commitment to supporting those scientists and resource users through my work as Chair of the NPRB and high hopes for our own annual science colloquium!