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About Kasitsna Bay Lab
The Kasitsna Bay Laboratory is a cooperative endeavor between NCCOS and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) with a strong emphasis on educational outreach and community service.
One
of the Laboratory’s goals is to promote environmental and natural resource
education for Chugach tribal members to increase tribal ability to manage
their coastal resources. Areas of emphasis include:
- coastal management
- fisheries, ecology
- taxonomy
- environmental monitoring
Planned is development of a virtual classroom via the Internet to allow students to interact readily with each other and with instructors from among UAF faculty as well as scientists and managers from state and federal agencies.
University of Alaska Fairbanks is developing a multi-level program for the education and training of elementary school, high school, undergraduate and graduate students. The Kasitsna Laboratory serves as a center for graduate student research in marine and coastal studies.
NCCOS and NOAA research will focus on topics relevant to the local area and its resources. The Kasitsna Laboratory provides a field site support base for Kachamak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (KBNERR) research. NOAA Office of Response and Restoration research on clam feeding ecology and rocky intertidal ecology is supported from the Laboratory. Several NCCOS/CCFHR research projects are conducted through the Kasitsna Bay Laboratory:
- Food resource ecology for benthic bivalves joint with OR&R and KBNERR
- Seagrass distribution with data input to KBNERR habitat inventory
- Seagrass recovery modeling and model application to other habitats joint with OR&R (e.g., rocky intertidal algal habitat recovery following oil spill)
- Harmful algal bloom studies joint with UAF
- "Bioeffects Assessment of Kachemak Bay, Alaska" research cruise