Science Night 2024

Staying alert and proactive in the Exxon Valdez oil spill region

Science Night is an annual event hosted by the Prince William Regional Citizens Advisory Council. Topics focus on research related to the safe transportation of oil through Prince William Sound.

  • When: Thursday, December 5, 2024, doors open at 4:30pm, presentations begin promptly at 5:30pm
  • Where: Embassy Suites Ballroom, 600 E Benson Blvd, Anchorage, AK 99503 and online via Zoom (link when available)
  • Who: (scroll down for detailed presentation descriptions)

NEW THIS YEAR!!  Watch parties are being organized by our partners in Cordova, Homer and Valdez. Click the links for more information!

Questions? Contact Project Manager Danielle Verna


Presentations:

Large Whale Entanglement Response in Alaska “a Team Effort”

Speaker: John Moran – Research Fisheries Biologist, Alaska Fisheries Science Center

Entanglements in marine debris and fishing gear cause suffering, serious injuries, and possible death large whales. This talk will cover how trained responders approach an entanglement, focusing on the recent response to an entangled humpback whale in Port Valdez.

Cybersecurity

Speaker: Kristina Arsenault – Marine Transportation System Specialist (Cyber) USCG Marine Safety Unit Valdez

Alaska faces unique cybersecurity challenges relating to supply chain management, and infrastructure resiliency. This presentation explores the risks and mitigating strategies impacting Alaskans, port operations, and maritime commerce as a whole.

Ocean Plastics Recovery

Speaker: Andy Schroeder & Scott Farling – Co-Founders, Ocean Plastics Recovery Project

By harnessing the power of science, education, and storytelling, the Ocean Plastics Recovery Project seeks to reverse the flow of plastics into the marine environment, restore critical habitat so that nature can thrive, and return ocean-recovered plastics to the circular economy. We are currently scaling collection efforts across Alaska’s coastline, establishing a large scale monitoring site at Kayak island, and building out one of the first recycling facilities in the U.S. specifically tailored to process the massive marine debris waste stream. Looking further, we have begun an effort to aggregate best available scientific and economic data in an attempt to quantify in dollars the environmental service value of ocean plastics removal and recycling. Our hope is to help launch a new sector of Alaska’s blue economy focused on the restoration of impaired marine ecosystems.

Oiled Wildlife Response and Innovation since the Exxon Valdez

Speaker: Barbara Callahan – Senior Director of Response and Preparedness Services, International Bird Rescue

This presentation will include a brief overview of oiled wildlife response, including how aquatic birds are waterproof and how bird’s are reconditioned after oiling. Additionally, Barbara will discuss innovations in overall wildlife response and rehabilitation, such as pro-active capture, blood work, increased supportive care and more specific husbandry tactics that have greatly improved the release rate of wildlife after oiling.

Researchers find new non-native species in Prince William Sound

Last year, researchers from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, or SERC, partnered with the Council to conduct the largest survey of non-native benthic marine invertebrate species in Prince William Sound since 2003.

The work is part of a larger survey being conducted by Dr. Gregory Ruiz and a team of researchers from SERC to document non-native species in ports and bays throughout the United States. The researchers have also recently surveyed in California, southeast Alaska, and other sites along the Pacific coast of the U.S. Researchers anticipate surveying Cook Inlet in 2025.

New maps show winter hotspots for marine birds

Researchers have completed a new analysis that will help protect marine birds in Prince William Sound from oil spills. Anne Schaefer and Dr. Mary Anne Bishop from the Prince William Sound Science Center compiled data from surveys in Prince William Sound conducted during March between 2007-2014 and 2018-2023.

Science Night 2023 – Videos now available

Systems and Methods: Connecting across the Exxon Valdez oil spill region

Science Night is an annual event hosted by the Prince William Regional Citizens Advisory Council. Topics focus on research related to the safe transportation of oil through Prince William Sound.

Individual presentations can be viewed below, or you can view the full playlist directly on the Council’s Youtube Channel: Science Night 2023

On this page:

  1. Let the Hydrocarbons in Prince William Sound Talk
  2. Forage Fish Update
  3. Tsumani/landslide hazards in Prince William Sound
  4. Alaska Spill Response Wildlife Aid

Let the Hydrocarbons in Prince William Sound Talk: 30 years of Environmental Monitoring through PWSRCAC’s LTEMP

Presenter: Dr. Morgan Bender, Senior Scientist, Owl Ridge Natural Resource Consultants, Inc.

The PWSRCAC’s Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Program (LTEMP) is one of the longest-standing hydrocarbon assessment programs of its kind and provides us with annual data on how and where hydrocarbons enter Prince William Sound and the potential effects they may have on the marine ecosystem. Morgan, an Alaska-based ecotoxicologist, will lead us through the 30-year LTEMP investigative process and major findings to inform and excite Science Night participants on LTEMP’s past, present, and future.

View Let the Hydrocarbons in Prince William Sound Talk directly on YouTube.


Forage Fish Update

Presenter: Scott Pegau, Research Program Manager, Oil Spill Recovery Institute

Forage fish provide a critical link between plankton and large predators like birds, mammals, and other fish. Pacific herring, sand lance, capelin, and juvenile pollock are a few of the many forage fish in PWS. Most of the information we have on forage fish is associated with herring because of its historic commercial importance but there is some information on other species. This presentation takes a look at some of the existing research into forage fish in Prince William Sound.

View Forage Fish Update directly on YouTube.


Advancing our understanding of tsunamigenic landslide hazards in Prince William Sound, Alaska

Presenter: Dennis M. Staley, Research Physical Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey – Alaska Volcano Observatory

Exposure to landslide and tsunami hazards are a part of life for those who reside in the seaside communities of coastal Alaska and the people who work or recreate in coastal waterways. Recently, the recognition of the landslide-generated tsunami hazard posed by the Barry Arm landslide in northwestern Prince William Sound has attracted considerable attention in the public and media, at local, state, and federal governments, and in the scientific community. This presentation focuses on the ongoing effort to assess hazard and warn for a tsunami produced by the Barry Arm landslide, and on scientific investigations into the prevalence of this type of natural hazard at other locations in Prince William Sound.

View Advancing our understanding of tsunamigenic landslide hazards in Prince William Sound directly on YouTube.


Alaska Spill Response Wildlife Aid

Presenter: Bridget Crokus, Deputy Oil Spill Response Coordinator, USFWS Alaska Region

Protecting fish, wildlife, and their habitats is a primary response objective after an oil spill. First-hand accounts of wildlife in or near an oil spill are invaluable to a successful wildlife response. Bridget will present the Alaska Spill Response Wildlife ID Aid, a tool developed to help spill responders “take a wildlife minute” and record the wildlife they see.

View Alaska Spill Response Wildlife Aid directly on YouTube.

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