Alaska Marine Science Symposium 2020

Where have all the researchers gone?

By Arissa Pearson, January 28, 2020

Monday mornings are normally full of researchers running around getting prepared for the week, but not this week. Offices are dark, phones are quiet, and there is a strange lull throughout the building. Much of the staff has headed northwest to Anchorage for the annual Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS).

A sea butterfly (Limacina helicina) swims past the zooplankton camera attached to Dr. Rob Campbell’s autonomous moored profiler.

For over 20 years, AMSS has brought together the science community to share the latest marine research happening right here in Alaska. The four-day conference showcases vital ecosystems, such as the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea, the Aleutian Islands, and the Arctic. All week long there are researchers speaking about their projects every 15 minutes as well as workshops and other opportunities for researchers to mingle and exchange ideas.

The poster session took place on January 27 and 28 at the Egan Center. Three different researchers represented the Prince William Sound Science Center. Click below for their abstracts:

Dr. Rob Campbell – The Annual Secondary Productivity Cycle in Prince William Sound measured with the Prince William Sound Plankton Camera

Dr. Kristen Gorman (Mary Anne Bishop, Anne Schaefer) – Resolving the Annual Pelagic of Tufted Puffins in the Gulf of Alaska Using Geolocator Technology

Dr. W. Scott Pegau (Maya Groner, Pete Rand, Kristen Gorman, Mary Anne Bishop) – Prince William Sound Herring Research and Monitoring Program

Here is the full AMSS Abstract Book of 2020.