Scientists beach seining an eelgrass bed.

A lab technician analyzing samples.

Crude oil persisting in the intertidal.

Habitat Program Manager

Jeep Rice
Auke Bay Laboratories
Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries

Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute
17109 Pt Lena Loop Rd
Juneau AK 99801
(907) 789-6020
Jeep.Rice@noaa.gov

The Habitat Assessment and Marine Chemistry Program conducts research on chemical and ecological processes that occur in marine, tidal, and watershed habitats ranging from the Arctic to the Gulf of Alaska. This program attempts to assess bioenergetics in various species and life stages, assess the impact of development and contaminants on these species and their habitats, and map and evaluate their habitat quality. The program comprises a mix of chemists and biologists focused into three project teams:

Nutritional ecology research or bioenergetics, assesses the nutritional value of forage species, including juvenile salmon, as measured by changes in lipid class, fatty acid, and caloric composition of these forage species. The studies seek to evaluate how habitat quality changes seasonally and spatially by understanding how prey organisms allocate energy between growth, reproduction, and fat storage.

Contaminants research quantifies threats from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) to reproductive, nursery, and feeding habitats for various life stages of salmon, herring, and other fish species. Much of this work has focused on understanding the long-term effects of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.

Nearshore habitat research combines habitat mapping and fish utilization studies to identify use of essential fish habitat. Additional focus has been on identifying sensitive life stages of forage fish and chemical or physical impacts of development on the quality of eelgrass and kelp bed habitats.

Genetic analyses are used to identify independent stocks of fish allowing us to meet international treaty obligations, assess endangered species criteria, and reach fisheries management goals.  A small group of geneticists and technicians genetically analyze fish populations from the forage base to upper-level predators.  Mathematical statisticians within our group then use the allele frequency differences to complete stock assessment analyses.

News and Research Highlights

	HERA Paper of the Year Award The journal Human and Ecological Risk Assessment (HERA) has selected "Carls & Meador. A Perspective on the Toxicity of Petrogenic PAHs to Developing Fish Embryos Related to Environmental Chemistry. HERA 15: 1084-1098" as Paper of Year 2009 in the category of ecological risk assessment.
	Juneau Humpback Whale Catalog A resource for humpback whale fluke identification including 108 fluke photographs as well as general inforrmation about the humpbacks that frequent the Juneau area. More>

Recent Publications, Poster Presentations, Reports & Activities

• Ocean-going vessels: a possible conduit for the introduction of white-nose syndrome fungus (Geomyces destructans) into bats in Alaska.
  WRIGHT, S. K., and J. R. MORAN. 2011. Ocean-going vessels: a possible conduit for the introduction of white-nose syndrome fungus (Geomyces destructans) into bats in Alaska. Northwest. Nat. 92(2):133-135. 
   
• Genetic variation between outer-coastal and fjord populations of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) in the eastern Gulf of Alaska.
  WILDES, S. L., J. J. VOLLENWEIDER, H. T. NGUYEN, and J. R. GUYON. 2011. Genetic variation between outer-coastal and fjord populations of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) in the eastern Gulf of Alaska. Fish. Bull. U.S. 109:382-393. (.pdf, 461 KB).  Online.
   
• Habitat and Ecological Processes Research (HEPR) Program
  By:  MIKE SIGLER, MANDY LINDEBERG, CRAIG FAUNCE, MICHAEL CAMERON, BEN LAUREL, TOM HELSER
  Conference:  non-conference use
  (2011 poster, .pdf, 1.14 MB)   Online.
   
• Alaska ShoreZone Online
  By:  MANDY LINDEBERG, STEVE LEWIS
  Conference:  American Fisheries Society, 141st Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, Sept 2011
  (2011 poster, .pdf, 2.09 MB)   Online.
   

See the publications and poster databases for additional listings.