Do you know a high school student (age 15-18) who has an interest in conservation and has a passion for sharing what they know with others? Kodiak Refuge is looking for high school students to join our summer Visitor Services team!
Kodiak Refuge is seeking to hire three (3) high school students (age 15-18) to join our Visitor Services team at the Kodiak Refuge Visitor Center. Applications are being accepted through the month of April at the Kodiak Refuge Visitor Center (last day for applications is April 30, 2009).
In addition to working at our Visitor Center through the summer months, interns will... Get trained in public outreach and education by staff from Kodiak Refuge, ADF&G Watchable Wildlife Program and Alaska Youth For Environmental Action (AYEA) Meet visitors from around the globe! Get their hands dirty with some biological field work and trails projects in Kodiak Refuge (three trips scheduled) Attend the AYEA state-wide leadership conference in the fall
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call or email.
Thanks!
Tina Shaw
Visitor Center Manager
Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
direct phone- 907.487.0282
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
17th Annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival
Welcome to the 17th Annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. Join us in celebrating spring and the more than 130 species of birds, including over 20 shorebirds, that migrate to Kachemak Bay. This year we also honor the 50th Anniversary of Alaska’s Statehood, as well as the Centennial Anniversary of National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska. Enjoy presentations by our two Keynote speakers: Jack Dalton, aYup’ik Storyteller and artist, and Paul Baicich, chair of the Council on Environmental Education’s Bird Education Network.
This year’s theme is Birds in Culture: Our Brothes and Sisters Return. You’ll have numerous opportunities to enjoy food, music and presentations honoring a variety of cultures. Our expert speakers, naturalists and guides will share their extensive wealth of birding knowledge, as they lead you through the many field events, workshops, presentations and boat and kayak tours being offered. And spend your evenings enjoying our great lineup of entertainment for all ages.
Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate or advanced birder, or even the nonbirder in your group, you’ll enjoy this fun-for-the-entire-family weekend event. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating this very special year!
Happy birding!
Christina M Whiting, Festival Coordinator
c/o the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival Committee
This year’s theme is Birds in Culture: Our Brothes and Sisters Return. You’ll have numerous opportunities to enjoy food, music and presentations honoring a variety of cultures. Our expert speakers, naturalists and guides will share their extensive wealth of birding knowledge, as they lead you through the many field events, workshops, presentations and boat and kayak tours being offered. And spend your evenings enjoying our great lineup of entertainment for all ages.
Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate or advanced birder, or even the nonbirder in your group, you’ll enjoy this fun-for-the-entire-family weekend event. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating this very special year!
Happy birding!
Christina M Whiting, Festival Coordinator
c/o the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival Committee
Monday, March 2, 2009
State Park Survey
Forward to any Alaska State Park users you know who would be interested.I just took the survey and it only takes about 5 minutes. Best one like this I've seen over the years. Please take five minutes to fill out this survey from Alaska Parks and Recreation.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?s...Mkoon1jw_3d_3d
This statewide opinion survey will help the State of Alaska, Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation better understand what Alaskans do for outdoor recreation and how we can meet future recreation demands. Results will become part of a statewide outdoor recreation plan that will guide policy and funding decisions. Please feel free to forward to others.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?s...Mkoon1jw_3d_3d
This statewide opinion survey will help the State of Alaska, Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation better understand what Alaskans do for outdoor recreation and how we can meet future recreation demands. Results will become part of a statewide outdoor recreation plan that will guide policy and funding decisions. Please feel free to forward to others.
TogetherGreen Innovation Grants
Hi, everyone. As you know, the application process is open for Year 2 of the TogetherGreen Innovation Grants. If you are interested in applying for a grant, or if you are helping someone apply, please join us for a WebEx session to go over the program goals and answer questions about the online application process.
The session is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10 at 1pm EST.
To join the session, please email Flo Miller, Innovation Grants Manager, at fmiller@audubon.org. You will need to RSVP by this Friday, March 6, so that she can register you as a participant. She will then send you an invitation via WebEx with details on how to join the session. You'll need access to a computer with fairly fast Internet, and a phone to join via conference call.
Please contact Flo with any questions at fmiller@audubon.org or 802-505-0839. And if you cannot make this time and would like us to schedule another call the following week, please let us know what timing works best. We are happy to do an evening session if that would be helpful.
We're looking forward to getting some great applications.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
2nd Annual Environmental Film Festival, Friday, 27 Feb
Kodiak High School Future Farmers of America (FFA) is co hosting along with the Alaska Marine Conservation Council and Sustainable Kodiak the 2nd Annual Environmental Film Festival to be held this Friday evening February 27th at the auditorium Coral Pod. Doors open at 6:30. Films will be shown from 7:00 – 10:00 with a half hour intermission. Please join us to enjoy great award winning environmental films, a silent auction, door prizes, Patagonia outdoor wear raffle, complimentary child care and refreshments!
Adults $5.00Students $3.00
Moneys earned will go towards sending KHS’s Envirothon Teams to State Competition in April as well as supporting local marine stewardship programs.
Adults $5.00Students $3.00
Moneys earned will go towards sending KHS’s Envirothon Teams to State Competition in April as well as supporting local marine stewardship programs.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
EVOS Program on Friday, March 20, 2009
There are 5 compelling and surprising stories of long term effects to species and habitats that were not predicted at the time of the settlement in 1991: 2 pods of killer whales continue to struggle from the initial effects of the oil spill; liquid oil was found to be persisting a few inches below the surface of more than half the beaches surveyed in 2001; pink salmon embryos were impacted through the fall of 1993- some four years past the spill; sea otters populations in the northern Knight island area struggled well into the second decade. Herring remain depressed following a population collapse after the spill, although scientists can not say for certain what the role of the spill was in their collapse or lack of recovery since.
All of these impacts were surprising to scientists following the spill; documentation of long term effects were generally lacking in previous spills, but no spill in history has been followed as closely, or as long as the Exxon Valdez spill. Collectively, these findings, from several groups of researchers, have changed the way we assess and measure the long term impacts of a spill, and these findings will likely affect the strategies of prevention and clean-up after a spill for a long time.
Dr. Stanley “Jeep” Rice will present these long term observations. Jeep was originally hired in 1971 at the Auke Bay Lab in Juneau of the National Marine Fisheries Service as a toxicologist to first work on the Environmental Impact Statement for then proposed TransAlaska Pipeline. With approval of the pipeline, Jeep gathered together a team of biologists and chemists and initiated studies to determine toxicity of crude oil to Alaskan species, and to establish baseline sites in Prince William Sound to document the low level of oil contamination. The team was productive for more than a decade prior to the spill, and as experts in the field of oil toxicity, were thrust into the sound quickly in response to the spill. Baseline sites were re-sampled before and after the spill contaminated them; and several damage assessment studies were initiated in the first summer of the spill. Most agencies lacked chemical and oil expertise, and we became partners in many studies. Twenty years later, our group has published more than 150 papers, and we have lead or been involved with some of the highest profile studies. Our lab continues to be the primary laboratory for analyzing for oil contamination and maintains a database of thousands of samples dating back to the 1970s prior to the oil spill. Today, we continue with lingering oil and herring studies; our interests, along with the EVOS Trustee council interest has evolved over time, from species specific damage assessment to ecosystem recovery. We still have concerns for the recovery of killer whales, contamination in the intertidal zone, lingering exposure to sea otters, and the lack of recovery in herring is perplexing.
All of these impacts were surprising to scientists following the spill; documentation of long term effects were generally lacking in previous spills, but no spill in history has been followed as closely, or as long as the Exxon Valdez spill. Collectively, these findings, from several groups of researchers, have changed the way we assess and measure the long term impacts of a spill, and these findings will likely affect the strategies of prevention and clean-up after a spill for a long time.
Dr. Stanley “Jeep” Rice will present these long term observations. Jeep was originally hired in 1971 at the Auke Bay Lab in Juneau of the National Marine Fisheries Service as a toxicologist to first work on the Environmental Impact Statement for then proposed TransAlaska Pipeline. With approval of the pipeline, Jeep gathered together a team of biologists and chemists and initiated studies to determine toxicity of crude oil to Alaskan species, and to establish baseline sites in Prince William Sound to document the low level of oil contamination. The team was productive for more than a decade prior to the spill, and as experts in the field of oil toxicity, were thrust into the sound quickly in response to the spill. Baseline sites were re-sampled before and after the spill contaminated them; and several damage assessment studies were initiated in the first summer of the spill. Most agencies lacked chemical and oil expertise, and we became partners in many studies. Twenty years later, our group has published more than 150 papers, and we have lead or been involved with some of the highest profile studies. Our lab continues to be the primary laboratory for analyzing for oil contamination and maintains a database of thousands of samples dating back to the 1970s prior to the oil spill. Today, we continue with lingering oil and herring studies; our interests, along with the EVOS Trustee council interest has evolved over time, from species specific damage assessment to ecosystem recovery. We still have concerns for the recovery of killer whales, contamination in the intertidal zone, lingering exposure to sea otters, and the lack of recovery in herring is perplexing.
Kodiak Events Planned for the 20th Anniversary of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS)
March 14th – Saturday Kodiak Maritime Museum
“Kodiak Out Loud!” Seven fisher poets, writers and musicians present original poetry, stories and songs about the sea. – EVOS Theme
Location: Kodiak Auditorium
Time: 7 p.m.
Contact Person: Toby Sullivan – 907-360-8837
March 17th - Tuesday KMXT Public Radio
“Talk of the Rock”
Interview with Dr. Stanley (Jeep) Rice, expert physiologist/toxicologist on the impacts of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Location: KMXT Studios
Time: 12:30 – 1:00pm
Contact person: Jay Barrett – KMXT
March 20th – Friday Kodiak Maritime Museum
“Images of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill on Kodiak Island”
Community reception and display of images and video of the oil spill shot during the summer of 1989 in Kodiak.
Location: Kodiak College – Rooms 127, 128, 129
Time: 5:00pm – 6:00pm (Toby Sullivan, Director of the KMM introduces exhibit)
Contact person: Toby Sullivan – 486-0384
Free Pizza and soft drinks served from 5:00pm – 6:00pm
NOTE: Community Reception hosted by Kodiak Maritime Museum, Kodiak Audubon Society, Friends of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska Marine Conservation Council
March 20th – Friday Kodiak College and Maritime Museum
Dr. Duane A. Gill, Professor of Sociology, Mississippi State University
Speaking on sociological/economic impacts of the EVOS
Location: Kodiak College – Rooms 127, 128, 129
Time: 6:00pm – 7:15pm
March 20th – Friday EXXON Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council
“Alaska’s Oil Spill” New 15-minute documentary on the EVOS.
Location: Kodiak College – Rooms 127, 128, 129
Time: 7:20pm – 7:40pm
Contact person: Stacy Studebaker – 486-6498
March 20th – Friday Kodiak Audubon Society
Friends of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
Speaker: Dr. Stanley Rice – NOAA Juneau, Auk Bay Lab
Physiologist & Toxicologist
“Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Long Term Persistence and Long Term Effects”
Dr. Rice will present a PowerPoint lecture on the long-term persistence and impacts resulting from the EVOS on killer whales, herring, pink salmon and sea otters as well as the toxicity of lingering oil.
Location: Kodiak College – Rooms 127, 128, 129
Time: 7:45pm – 9:00pm
Contact person: Stacy Studebaker – 486-6498
9:00 – 10:00 – Socializing and remembrance while looking at the images
March 21st – Saturday Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council & Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
Book signing of EVOS Oral Histories and open house
Location: Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
Special Guests: John Devens & Stan Jones of the PWSRCAC and local
Kodiak residents featured in the book.
Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm
Contact person: Tina Shaw–487-2626, Linda Robinson: robinson@pwsrcac
March 21st – Saturday Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
Speaker: Tim Richardson – Director of Government Affairs -American Land Conservancy
Former Director of the Kodiak Brown Bear Trust
Author of: Kodiak Bears and the Exxon Valdez
Tim has helped to direct land purchases and conservation easements for habitat restoration throughout the archipelago.
Location: Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
Time: 7:00pm
Contact person: Tina Shaw – 487-2626
April 4 – April 30 Kodiak Historical Society & Baranov Museum
Sponsored by the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council and the Bunnell Street Arts Center, Homer
“SPILL” A Commemorative Exhibition of artwork by 30 Alaskan artists. “SPILL” will showcase the artist’s individual interpretations of the EVOS as informed by diverse cultural values, experiences, beliefs, and artistic passions.
Location: Baranov Museum
Time: TBA
Contact person: Katie Oliver – 486-5920
“Kodiak Out Loud!” Seven fisher poets, writers and musicians present original poetry, stories and songs about the sea. – EVOS Theme
Location: Kodiak Auditorium
Time: 7 p.m.
Contact Person: Toby Sullivan – 907-360-8837
March 17th - Tuesday KMXT Public Radio
“Talk of the Rock”
Interview with Dr. Stanley (Jeep) Rice, expert physiologist/toxicologist on the impacts of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Location: KMXT Studios
Time: 12:30 – 1:00pm
Contact person: Jay Barrett – KMXT
March 20th – Friday Kodiak Maritime Museum
“Images of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill on Kodiak Island”
Community reception and display of images and video of the oil spill shot during the summer of 1989 in Kodiak.
Location: Kodiak College – Rooms 127, 128, 129
Time: 5:00pm – 6:00pm (Toby Sullivan, Director of the KMM introduces exhibit)
Contact person: Toby Sullivan – 486-0384
Free Pizza and soft drinks served from 5:00pm – 6:00pm
NOTE: Community Reception hosted by Kodiak Maritime Museum, Kodiak Audubon Society, Friends of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska Marine Conservation Council
March 20th – Friday Kodiak College and Maritime Museum
Dr. Duane A. Gill, Professor of Sociology, Mississippi State University
Speaking on sociological/economic impacts of the EVOS
Location: Kodiak College – Rooms 127, 128, 129
Time: 6:00pm – 7:15pm
March 20th – Friday EXXON Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council
“Alaska’s Oil Spill” New 15-minute documentary on the EVOS.
Location: Kodiak College – Rooms 127, 128, 129
Time: 7:20pm – 7:40pm
Contact person: Stacy Studebaker – 486-6498
March 20th – Friday Kodiak Audubon Society
Friends of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
Speaker: Dr. Stanley Rice – NOAA Juneau, Auk Bay Lab
Physiologist & Toxicologist
“Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Long Term Persistence and Long Term Effects”
Dr. Rice will present a PowerPoint lecture on the long-term persistence and impacts resulting from the EVOS on killer whales, herring, pink salmon and sea otters as well as the toxicity of lingering oil.
Location: Kodiak College – Rooms 127, 128, 129
Time: 7:45pm – 9:00pm
Contact person: Stacy Studebaker – 486-6498
9:00 – 10:00 – Socializing and remembrance while looking at the images
March 21st – Saturday Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council & Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
Book signing of EVOS Oral Histories and open house
Location: Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
Special Guests: John Devens & Stan Jones of the PWSRCAC and local
Kodiak residents featured in the book.
Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm
Contact person: Tina Shaw–487-2626, Linda Robinson: robinson@pwsrcac
March 21st – Saturday Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
Speaker: Tim Richardson – Director of Government Affairs -American Land Conservancy
Former Director of the Kodiak Brown Bear Trust
Author of: Kodiak Bears and the Exxon Valdez
Tim has helped to direct land purchases and conservation easements for habitat restoration throughout the archipelago.
Location: Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
Time: 7:00pm
Contact person: Tina Shaw – 487-2626
April 4 – April 30 Kodiak Historical Society & Baranov Museum
Sponsored by the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council and the Bunnell Street Arts Center, Homer
“SPILL” A Commemorative Exhibition of artwork by 30 Alaskan artists. “SPILL” will showcase the artist’s individual interpretations of the EVOS as informed by diverse cultural values, experiences, beliefs, and artistic passions.
Location: Baranov Museum
Time: TBA
Contact person: Katie Oliver – 486-5920
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