Fishing for answers: Geneticist using DNA to decode Alaska salmon’s family ties

Wei Cheng is a member of the Council’s Scientific Advisory Committee. The committee is made up of scientists and citizens working to promote the environmentally safe operations of the terminal and tankers through independent scientific research, environmental monitoring, and review of scientific work. Volunteer Spotlight: Wei Cheng Wei Cheng says she is happy and fortunate to be able to use her expertise in genetics to help protect Alaska’s…

Matt Cullin builds life of growth and success out of expertise in corrosion and failure analysis

Volunteer Spotlight Cullin is a member of the Terminal Operations and Environmental Monitoring Committee. Volunteers like Cullin dedicate their time and expertise on committees who advise the Council’s Board of Directors on technical issues related to the safe transportation of oil through Prince William Sound. At his job as the director of the University of Alaska Anchorage’s BP Asset Integrity and Corrosion Lab, Matt Cullin imagines himself…

Plankton change with the seasons in Prince William Sound

Staff member Joe Lally holds a sample collected during the spring phytoplankton bloom. A new Council study will help improve monitoring for invasive species, such as tunicates, that live on the sea floor or hard surfaces. Researchers collected samples of zooplankton and used an identification technique called DNA metabarcoding. This technique allows researchers to identify multiple species from the same sample. Identifying species while they…

Colder and saltier water increases toxic effects of dispersed oil

Temperature and salinity of water can have an effect on how toxic dispersed oil is to organisms in the environment, a council study has found. The Canadian Centre for Offshore Oil, the Bedford Institute of Oceanography and Department of Fisheries and Oceans conducted a council-sponsored study to look at the absorption of dispersed crude oil during the early life stages of herring, salmon and cod when the fish are most sensitive to toxins. For…

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