Lost and Muddy for a Great Cause!

The hauntingly beautiful Lost Lake alpine area

OK, so I'm the first to admit I'm no longer much of a runner.  But I am a glutton for good causes and always up for a challenge... and so this year when Karla and I  saw the Lost Lake run for Cystic Fibrosis advertized (http://www.lostlakerun.org/), and we saw that it was possible to join the event as walkers, it seemed only logical that we would enter a 16 mile race and pay for the privilege!  That was back in April and we had all summer to train for the event... plenty of time... we'll start next week...

We were ruminating about our lack of training as the bus conveyed us from the Bear Creek Fire Station to the starting line at Primrose campground at 0630 Saturday morning in a light drizzle... as we descended from the bus to join 175 other walkers, I had a sinking feeling that weather conditions would only get worse.  As it turned out, that was remarkably prescient...

Lost Lake is one of those legendary alpine walks that we had managed to avoid doing for too many years and so it as with a  mixture of anticipation and apprehension that we set off up the trail 2 hours ahead of the main pack of runners.

Enjoying a stroll across the alpine meadows of Lost Lake  - what race?

After a long gradual ascent, it was wonderful to be above it all, walking through the Lilliputian plant meadows around Lost Lake... this truly is one of the most serene and spectacular vistas in Alaska.  And it was (mostly) flat!

One of the great features of the Lost Lake Run is the regular reminder of why you are there - each half mile there is a poster reminding you of the personal challenges posed by Cystic Fibrosis and inspiring you to reflect on what you can do to help with research and treatment

Just as we passed the half way point (feeling great), two things changed.  The weather quickly deteriorated (i.e. gusting sleet) and there was an increasing onslaught of runners who has started 2 hours behind us, but who now seemed to be somehow "motor powered" as the gunned their way across the moors. How else can you explain people running uphill at 10mph+?  I did make a mental note that they did not stop to take any photographs...

Needless to say it was all downhill from there - old mud and new mud, getting off the trail to allow more and more of the 500+ runners to pass, and yet more rain... and yes, the lack of training was starting to become evident, with increasingly heavy legs...

But as we crossed the line back at Bear Creek to the encouragement of a great group of race supporters, it was uplifting to realize that we were now enmeshed in the fellowship of a unique event.  Now in its 20th year, the Lost Lake run has become an Alaskan tradition -- inspiring, rewarding and tanatalizing --and it soon dawned on us that we now have a full 12 months to train for next years race!

Center’s Distance Learning Program Wins National Education Award

ASLC acting Education Director and Distance Learning guru, Laurie Stuart-Morrow doing what she does so very well - sharing knowledge about Alaska's marine ecosystems with the world!

I don't normally post our press releases verbatim, but this one says it all!!  What a tremendous accomplishment by our Distance Learning team - this award again demonstrates the power and quality of the education programs delivered by ASLC staff - we are actively building new parrtnerships with industry and communities in Alaska and globally to share these great programs even further!

Please  contact the ASLC education team to learn more about these amazing programs - or go one better and buy one for a school near you - they are terrific value and highly ranked by our peers! 

For immediate release

Seward, AK – August 26, 2011 – The Alaska SeaLife Center has just received a 2010-2011 CILC National Pinnacle Award from the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC). The award is presented annually to organizations posting outstanding K-12 standards-based interactive videoconferencing education programs.
To qualify for the award the provider must receive a minimum 2.85 average score out of a possible 3 on their program evaluations from educators during the school year. The evaluation assesses seven areas: two related to the effectiveness of the presenter and five related to the educational content of the program.


This is the second time in four years that the Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC) has received the CILC Pinnacle Award. ASLC Education Manager and leader of the distance learning unit, Laurie Stuart-Morrow said she was delighted to again receive this high level recognition. “Each year the Center provides more than 300 distance education programs to students throughout Alaska, across the lower 48 and increasingly around the world – this past year the Center has begun a major partnership with Australian schools. We are very pleased to be formally recognized by industry leaders for our high education standards and to be able to promote improved understanding of Alaska’s marine ecosystems to such a vast and engaging audience”.


About CILC
The Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC), established in 1994, is a not-for-profit specializing in access to applications and the utilization of videoconferencing for live interactive content and professional development, as well as web-based collaborative learning environments for K-12.


About ASLC
The Alaska SeaLife Center is a private non-profit research institution and visitor attraction which generates and shares scientific knowledge to promote understanding and stewardship of Alaska’s marine ecosystems. For more information regarding the Distance Learning program or other ASLC information please reference the Alaska SeaLife Center website at www.alaskasealife.org.

Fish On - another wonderful ASLC Invitational

Our catch after an action-filled day of fishing out of Seward on the F/V Huntress

The 12th Alaska SeaLife Center Invitational lived up to all expectations, with a sensational day of fishing and a throroughly entertaining and enjoyable evening banquet.  While it is always fun to go fishing with friends, this years event was notable for three reasons.  Firstly, our patron, Alaska's Lt Governor Mead Treadwell, bought his family to Seward and as the photo above attests, they all share his great fishing talent!  It was great to out on a boat with the Lt Governor, and to see the next generation of Alaskans appreciate first hand the amazing richness and diversity of marine life that Seward has to offer.  Our organizational vision is for future generations of Alaskans to continue to enjoy the bounty of Alaska's oceans - there is no better way to invest them in that vision that to engage the next generation in understanding what we have and what it takes to sustain that fishery.

ASLC Board member Jason Brune demonstrating the strong competition between tables that was a fun feature of the SeaLife Trivia game!

Secondly, we had a very enthusiastic group of sponsors and supporters this year who really went the extra yard to make the event fun.  One example of that was the SeaLife trivia game during the banquet that was designed and led in their inimitable manner by ASLC Educators Darin Trobaugh and Laurie Morrow.  The game provided a unique opportunity to feature ASLC distance education programs that we now deliver more than 300 times each year globally!  The general level of knowledge of our oceans among guests was impressive and ultimately the winning table made a "well educated" guess to secure the prize!

Banquet guests enjoying the opportunity to catch up and share some wonderful desserts courtesy of our multi-talented staff and volunteer chefs!

Thanks again to all of our sponsors, guests, staff and volunteers who helped make this such a wonderful event.  We raised nearly $20,000 for the Center's research and education programs and equally importantly strengthened many longstanding friendships!...
Oh, and in case you didn't get the chance to go fishing with us, make sure you get out there during the Seward Silver Salmon Derby - there is a very strong run of silvers this year!

A beaming Mrs Dutton showing off her first silver of the day!

Time for Greater Attention to Alaska's Islands??

Much of my career has involved working on islands systems.  From my early work on islands and cays of the Great Barrier Reef to my later research in Japan, various Pacific islands and Indonesia, islands have long held a special fascination for me.  That may be due to their unique characateristsics (e.g. many islands such as Sulawesi have high levels of endemicity).  It may be due to their often convenient scale - you can usually observe ecological and social processes more easily at island scale, particularly in isolated islands.  It may also be due to their pressing management needs - for example, islands are particularly vulnerable to change as a result of introduced species - Guam and other islands affected by introduced wildlife are poster childs for those types of impacts.  Those effects are not just confined to ecological impacts - consider, for example, the catastrophic losses and ongoing social disruption caused by the introduction of diseases to many Pacific islands by early explorers.
Maybe my fascination with islands is simply because they are typically beautful and unique places to work!  There are often a few perks involved in being one of the first researchers able to access remote islands and survey their ecology or cultures!  There are also a few down sides - in the mid 90s, I was part of a small team to undertake the first comprehensive survey  of the reefs around the Karimunjawa islands (just off the coast of central Java in Indonesia) - about 6 hours into our overnight small boat trip out there, the crew lost the boat propeller in about 40 feet of muddy water... fortunately they found it after just a  few hours of diving...

Photo of one of the Karimunjawa Islands courtesy of Central Java Tourism Office - more details available from

http://www.indonesia-tourism.com/central-java/karimunjawa.html

Even in the face of those types of tribulations, islands have proven to be rich natural laboratories - consider their influence on the work of Darwin, Wallace and other bio-geographers from the 19th century...

We have learned so much from islands and yet there is still so much to learn.
 

With increasing globalization, islands have come under severe pressure - there are many islands in the world where resources and cultures have been destroyed or severely degraded as a consequence of unsustainable exploitation of their resources.  Jared Diamond's book "Collapse" contains numerous examples of catastrophic change when resources and society are not 'in balance' - his work suggests that islands provide great insights into the the indivisibility of cultural and ecological sustainability.  Marcus Stepehen, the president of Nauru (an 8 square mile island in the Pacific) recently published an equally eloquent tale about what has happened to his country as a result of that lack of balance - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/opinion/19stephen.html.

There are several global efforts underway to promote a greater understanding of islands and the challenges they face as well as to promote a more sustainable approach to island development. Notable among those is the Global Islands Partnership (GLISPA) that was launched in 2006.  GLISPA seeks to conserve and sustainably utilize the invaluable island natural resources that support people, cultures, and livelihoods in their island homes around the world. It brings together island nations and nations with islands — small and large, developing and developed — to mobilize leadership, increase resources and share skills, knowledge, technologies and innovations in a cost-effective and sustainable way that will catalyze action for conservation and sustainable livelihoods on islands. (see http://www.cbd.int/island/glispa.shtml).

Analysis of Mexico's islands in the Gulf of California - details available at

http://conserveonline.org/workspaces/islandsmexico/documents/islas-de-mexico-un-recurso-estrategico/view.html

Among the many exciting GLISPA initiatives underway globally, I was particularly impressed with a recent publication on the islands of Mexico.  The book (in spanish only) is beautifully produced and systematically evaluates threats to islands as well as priorities for action.  It is the sort of book that decision makers can easily understand...

I began searching for a comparable book about Alaska's islands.  Sure there are a lot of books and reports about various islands and island groups within Alaska, but nothing that systematically addresses the status and needs of our islands - that is pretty surprising given that Alaska is the most island rich state in the USA.  Alaska has 38 islands larger than 100 square miles (see http://www.worldislandinfo.com/US/AK/AKlargest.htm for the list - it would make a great local geography quiz question!). 

As far as I can tell, there is no complete inventory of Alaska's islands and no "big picture" assessment of their status, threats or management needs. 

A book like the Mexican islands report could play a valuable role in promoting awareness of Alaska's islands and would draw attention to the many key "known unknowns" that researchers and others might begin to focus on.  Anyone interested in working on this?

ASLC Interns Rock!

ASLC-NPS Interns Abe Hartsell (l.) and Ninan Rosen (r.) with Cindy Ecklund (ASLC HR Manager) and Seasonal Interpreter Ben Gilles sharing novel approaches to marine interpretation

Many science institutions tend to think of Interns as young professionals in training.  While that may be true in a strictly HR development sense, at the Alaska SeaLife Center, we have learned that Internships are actually one of our most  powerful ways to generate innovation! 

ASLC Avian Intern Ali Rinaldi (r.) shares the results of her experiments on habitat structure with ASLC staff and volunteers

Aquarium intern, Anna Hildebrandt with her new photo database of microscopic animal and plant life that is such a key part of the marine food chains!

With  more than 300 Internships now completed at the Alaska SeaLife Center over the past 13 years, we have come to appreciate the tremendous value of "learning by doing".  This year was no exception.  Our 2011 Intern Fair - held earlier this week - provided the opportunity for our incredibly talented interns to share their work with staff, volunteers, visitors and their peers.

Marine mammal interns Courtney Schuert (l.) and Kelsey Thompson (back r. facing) sharing results of their projects on Steller Sea Lions

Each intern provided both an overview of that they have been doing and how that work will contribute to the longer term effectiveness of ASLC research, education and stewardship programs.  Many projects generated materials that visitors wills ee in the 2012 ASLC exhibit and education programs.  All projects have generated new data and tools that will enhance our existing science and outreach programs, and many of them will also be featured in upcoming presentations at the 2012 Alaska Marine Science Symposium and similar scientific meetings.

ASLC Intern of the year Krystal Fales explaining her work on DNA of Eider Eggs

This year some 27 interns from around the country are engaged in a diverse range of science and education projects - as the 2011 Intern Fair demonstrated, there was a remarkable level of innovation evident in their work.  Walking around the Fair reminded all staff of the value that these young scientists and educators bring to our mission - each of them found creative ways to demonstrate often complex scientific and education concepts and so enable us to promote ocean literacy among our visitors.

Intern Jo-Anne Siskidis sharing her project on Harbor Seals with ASLC Internship Program Coordinator, Daniel Barth

Climate change interns Hillary LeBail (r.) and Joseph Hunt (l.) conducting climate change jeopardy - a game to evaluate understanding of climate change attitudes.

Not only did the interns demonstrate their scientific and communication abilities, they also helped inspire ASLC staff to think about our work differently!  Thanks again to all of our interns and their partners/supervisors for the great work underway this summer.
I encourage you all to keep an eye out for these future rock stars of global marine science and education! 
We are planning to seek further corporate support in the coming year to expand this program - having been involved in marine science and education for some 30 years, I have not seen any better program to build the vital science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) capability that sustainable use and management of our global oceans demands.