January 23, 2024

The Sound of Science

There are many ways to “experience” scientific data. We see numbers portrayed in charts, arranged in graphs, and transcribed onto maps. These data-sharing methods may provoke […]
December 4, 2023

Education Month in Review: November 2023

By Cristina Reo Youth programming in November included Sea Squirts, Little Dippers, Fun Friday, and Astronomy Night. For our youngest explorers, we hosted our monthly Sea […]
November 3, 2023

Education Month in Review: October 2023

By Cristina Reo This month’s theme was Creatures of the Deep, celebrating the weird and the wonderful! We hosted a “creatures of the deep” Fun Friday […]
September 27, 2023

Education Month in Review: September 2023

By Cristina Reo Fall is upon us, as is the start of a new school year. With that comes fun family programming and entertaining – yet […]
August 17, 2023

Dissecting Juvenile Salmon Stomachs

Lydia Shaw, Dr. Pete Rand’s research technician, is looking at juvenile salmon stomachs from western Prince William Sound. She is dissecting stomachs to find out what […]
August 1, 2023

Salmon – A Daring Cycle

By Cristina Reo This August, we will be taking a closer look at salmon and learning some of the things that make them so unique. All […]
August 1, 2023

Education Month in Review: July 2023

By Cristina Reo Prince William Sound Science Center staff have been engulfed in research, education, and more amid the summer craze. July’s Discover Cordova was held […]
June 30, 2023

Copper River Stewardship Program: “Ed-venture” of a Lifetime

By Kate Trudeau Ten teens wrapped up an “ed-venture” of a lifetime with the Copper River Stewardship Program. With origins in Cordova, Nebesna, Slana, Kenny Lake, […]
June 30, 2023

Education Month in Review: June 2023

By Cristina Reo June brought forth the first glimpse of summer weather in Cordova and wildflowers were blossoming throughout town. Because of this, we wanted to […]
June 16, 2023

Education Month in Review: May 2023

By Cristina Reo May brought warmer weather and longer days. With shorebirds passing through the Copper River Delta and the school year coming to an end, […]
May 1, 2023

Education Month in Review: April 2023

By Cristina Reo April brought longer days and warmer weather. Let’s look at what the education team at the Prince William Sound Science Center got up […]
March 29, 2023

Otters of Alaska

By Cristina Reo April is Otter Month at the Prince William Sound Science Center. There are 13 different species of otters found across the world. Otters […]
March 29, 2023

Education Month in Review: March 2023

By Cristina Reo March brought forth sunny weather, longer days, herring spawns, and lots of PWSSC fun. Our theme for March was herring. Dr. Alysha Cypher […]
March 6, 2023

Hear ye, hear ye! Herring month is here!

Follow our social media channels this month to learn about herring in the Prince William Sound and how we are studying them. If you are interested […]
March 2, 2023

Education Month in Review: February 2023

By Cristina Reo February is the shortest month of the year, but that did not stop our education team from providing an abundance of educational opportunities […]
February 6, 2023

Science Charcuterie Night: Latin Roots!

March 16, 2023 at 6:00pm This is the first of many Science Charcuterie Nights. We challenge you to bring your most creative charcuterie board. Make it […]
February 6, 2023

Animal Love Quiz Crawl

The Bloodhound Gang said it best, “ You and me, baby, ain’t nothin’ but mammals!”. But have you ever wondered how, say, invertebrates court each other? […]
February 6, 2023

Education Month in Review: January 2023

By Cristina Reo and Kate Trudeau January went by in the blink of an eye for the education staff at the Prince William Sound Science Center. […]
January 27, 2023

Kelp the Sound workshop

Related posts Photo by Lauren Bien March 16, 2020 Cordova at the 2020 Alaska Tsunami BowlRead More May 10, 2020 Copper River Sockeye Salmon Size Predicts […]
January 20, 2023

Stitch Your Science

  ADULT FIBER ARTS EXHIBIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE As the months progress we expect the weather to get colder. We hunker down with our tea and […]
December 30, 2022
Discovery Room: 1st grader crawling through the model ear drum

Education Month in Review: December 2022

By Cristina Reo The education team had a jam-packed December full of learning, fun, and festive cheer. December started with our monthly Sea Squirts program, for […]
December 30, 2022

Big news! January is whale month

January 2023 Prince William Sound is home to many creatures great and small. We, at the Prince William Sound Science Center, are happy to share with […]
December 5, 2022

A Sea of Plankton

December 2022 According to MIT, there are more plankton in the ocean than there are stars in the sky. However, most people can probably name constellations […]
December 5, 2022

Education Program Updates

By Cristina Reo November 2022 was a very busy month for the education department. The month started off with a field trip to Power Creek for […]
September 14, 2022

Tufted Puffin Research Paper Published

Related posts Thousands of Tufted Puffins nest on Middleton Island, making this an ideal study area for researchers. Photo by Anne Schaefer. October 10, 2018 Overwinter […]
August 25, 2022

Discover Cordova 2022

This summer, kids were knee deep in nature as they flipped over rocks, followed salmon upstream, and stopped to smell the flowers with the Science Center’s […]
August 22, 2022

Mini-DRT camp August 2022

Headwaters to Ocean overnight camp, also known as “Mini-DRT (Delta Restoration Team) camp,” went off without a hitch in August of 2022. Our campers had a […]
July 14, 2022

Using otolith geochemistry to understand the watershed origins of Arctic salmon

Related posts April 15, 2019 Effects of Energetic State and Infectious Agents on Migration by Sockeye SalmonRead More August 2, 2019 Sockeye Salmon Migration Study in […]
November 4, 2021
Black-legged Kittiwake in flight.

Integrated Predator-Prey Survey

October 14, 2021 Researchers from the Prince William Sound Science Center (PI Bishop), US Geological Survey, and NOAA recently completed a collaborative research cruise focused on […]
July 23, 2021

Radio-tagged sockeye head upriver

July 23, 2021 Over 300 salmon were radio-tagged earlier this summer as part of the Sockeye Salmon Migration Study in the Copper River. Our goal is […]
May 24, 2021
Our New Home

Large Science and Education Campus Coming to Prince William Sound

5-acre waterfront research and education campus made possible by major grants from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, ConocoPhillips Alaska, […]
May 13, 2021

Publication on hatchery salmon straying

Three years of intense field work and years of data analysis and writing has culminated in a published scientific manuscript describing straying of hatchery pink and […]
April 22, 2021
Our New Home

Three decades of climate insight

April 22: On this day in 1989, legal papers for the creation of the Prince William Sound Science Center were filed. The City of Cordova offered […]
April 2, 2021

Herring Research and Monitoring 2021

Herring update: It’s that time of year again! The herring spawn is sparking a revival in the region after the long winter. Between March 27 and […]
February 19, 2021

2020 Copper River Stewardship Program a success!

Copper River Stewardship Program: hands-on education during a pandemic By Lauren Bien February, 2021 While the 2020 Copper River Stewardship Program looked very different than year’s […]
May 10, 2020

Copper River Sockeye Salmon Size Predicts Migratory Success

2019 data analyzed for preliminary results of migration study  By Teal Barmore, May 11, 2020 During the summer of 2015, the commercial fishing community in Cordova, […]
May 6, 2020

High Herring Abundance in Prince William Sound

Ideal conditions for a large year class, but don’t get your hopes up…yet. By Lauren Bien, May 6, 2020 PWSSC Research Ecologist, Pete Rand, returned to […]
April 27, 2020

New Research Plan

Science Center’s Focus on Resilience Reflected in New Research Plan By Teal Barmore, April 27, 2020 The theme of resilience emanates from the new research plan […]
April 24, 2020

Science center picks architect for new campus

Undeterred by pandemic, construction project nears funding goal By Zachary Snowdon Smith, April 14, 2019 for The Cordova Times Feature Photo: Prince William Sound Science Center’s harborside […]
March 31, 2020

Copper River Salmon Meetings

Salmon researchers participate in Copper River Basin Symposium and Copper River Salmon Harvesters Roundtable By Teal Barmore, March 30, 2020 In late February, Prince William Sound […]
March 30, 2020

Herring Migration in Prince William Sound

Where are the herring going? By Arissa Pearson, March 30, 2020 Implanting Prince William Sound fish with acoustic tags has opened up a new realm of […]
March 27, 2020

PWSSC COVID-19 Update

Dear Friends, We are thinking of you and your loved ones, as well as everyone impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The ramifications within our communities will, […]
March 23, 2020
Prince William Sound Pacific herring spawn event

Hydroacoustic Spawning Biomass Surveys

Hydroacoustic spawning biomass surveys of Pacific herring By Teal Barmore, March 23, 2020 Every spring, researchers from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and the […]
March 16, 2020

Cordova at the 2020 Alaska Tsunami Bowl

Cordova’s Backstreet Buoys have another great showing at Alaska’s Tsunami Bowl By Lauren Bien March 16, 2020 Cordova’s team, The Backstreet Buoys, made another impressive appearance […]
February 27, 2020

Middleton Island Puffins

Discovering ocean habitat use by seabirds during winter thanks to advances in tracking technology By Teal Barmore, February 27, 2020 Researchers at Prince William Sound Science […]
February 10, 2020

In search of the elusive ice worm

PWSSC and U.S. Forest Service Lead Hikers to Sheridan Glacier By Zachary Snowdon Smith, February 2, 2020 for The Cordova Times Photo by Zachary Snowdon Smith For […]
January 30, 2020

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, […]
January 28, 2020

Winter Adventures in Astronomy

SIXTH GRADE STUDENTS USE SNOWSHOES, TRIPODS, AND CAMERAS TO EXPLORE THE NIGHT SKY By Nicole Webster, January 28, 2020 Earlier this month, despite single-digit temperatures and […]
January 17, 2020

Hatchery-Wild Project Extended

Field work for Hatchery-Wild has been extended for another year By Arissa Pearson, January 17, 2020 Feature photo by Pete Rand December 2019 brought news that […]
January 16, 2020

Science center moving to expansive new campus

Current facility plagued by cramped lab space, wobbly dock pilings By Zachary Snowdon Smith, October 27, 2019 for The Cordova Times Feature Photo: Oceanographer Rob Campbell […]
January 16, 2020

Science center eligible for $40,000 in matching donations

Donations from residents will help build new campus By Zachary Snowdon Smith, January 12, 2020 for The Cordova Times Photo by Teal Barmore Prince William Sound Science […]
December 30, 2019

Best of 2019

Top News Features 1) HATCHERY WILD FIELD SEASON 2019 FIELD SEASON MARKED BY LOW FLOW AND HIGH PRE-SPAWN MORTALITY It was a strange summer for the […]
December 27, 2019

Herring Synthesis

Making a case for herring research: 2019 Synthesis presents disease tracking breakthroughs and environmental correlations By Teal Barmore, December 27, 2019 The Prince William Sound Science […]
December 5, 2019

Hydroponics In Our Schools

New Discovery Room theme connects second grade students to their food By Teal Barmore, December 5, 2019 Second grade students at Mt. Eccles Elementary shifted in […]
November 22, 2019

Anne to Antarctica 2019

PWSSC Research Assistant to use her bird research skills in the Southern Hemisphere By Teal Barmore, November 25, 2019 Photos by Anne Schaefer Prince William Sound […]
November 14, 2019

Hatchery Wild field season 2019

Field Season Marked by Low Flow and High Pre-spawn Mortality By Teal Barmore, November 13, 2019 Aerial photo by Brad von Wichman It was a strange […]
October 24, 2019

Marine Heat Wave Update

Marine Temperatures Anomalies Doubled Previous Records By Teal Barmore, October 24, 2019 A mild winter followed by an abnormally calm and sunny summer this year led […]
October 17, 2019

Sockeye Energetics

Copper River Sockeye Salmon Project Motivated by its Potential to Inform Management in the Face of a Changing Climate By Teal Barmore, October 17, 2019 During […]
September 24, 2019

Russian Wild Salmon Exchange

By Kinsey Justa, September 24, 2019 Last week, Prince William Sound Science Center staff hosted visitors from the Russian Far East. This group of six visitors […]
September 12, 2019

Science Literacy: Fostering Resilience for the Future

  By Kinsey Justa, September 12, 2019 It’s back to school for children in Cordova! The Prince William Sound Science Center is committed to building resilience […]
August 21, 2019

Plankton Photomicrography 

By Kinsey Justa, August 21, 2019 Monitoring and understanding the rich diversity of biological resources in Prince William Sound is an important part of the Prince […]
July 22, 2019

Glaucous-winged Gulls and Avian Influenza

By Kinsey Justa, July 22, 2019 During the summer months, Cordova’s seasonal population grows significantly and not just with people. Each year an influx of Glaucous-winged […]
July 5, 2019

Tufted Puffin Update

By Kinsey Justa, July 5, 2019 Prince William Sound Science Center scientists Kristen Gorman and Anne Schaefer recently returned from Middleton Island where they were retrieving […]
June 21, 2019

Hands on with ROVs

By Kinsey Justa, June 21, 2019 Among the many engaging education programs at PWSSC, perhaps one of the more unique is the hands-on ROV program. An […]
May 16, 2019

2019 Lower Copper Sonar

  By Kinsey Justa, May 16, 2019 Earlier this month, Dr. Rob Campbell and his team of seasonal research technicians set the lower Copper River sonars […]
April 16, 2019

Herring Spawn

Herring Return Earlier and more Abundant than Expected By Teal Barmore, April 16, 2019 Researchers in the Herring Research and Monitoring (HRM) program were caught off […]
March 27, 2019

Marine Heat Wave

High-Pressure Systems Lead to Warm Water in the North Pacific By Teal Barmore, March 27, 2019 Abnormally warm sea surface temperatures across the North Pacific have […]
March 12, 2019

Caspian Terns

The Rapid Growth and Decline of the Caspian Tern Colony on the Copper River Delta By Teal Barmore, March 12, 2019 The discovery of a Caspian […]
March 12, 2019

Land Purchase

PWSSC Finalizes Land Purchase for a New Location March 12, 2019 Did you know the Science Center occupies eight rented facilities in Cordova? After nearly 30 […]
March 12, 2019

NOSB

Cordova Team Places First in Project Portion of NOSB   March 12, 2019 The all-female National Ocean Sciences Bowl team, coached by PWSSC Education Director, Lauren […]
February 25, 2019

Stewards present at AFE

The culmination of another successful year for the Copper River Stewardship Program February 25, 2019 Eight students from the 2018 Copper River Stewardship Program presented at the Alaska […]
February 25, 2019

Pacific Cod Migration

Tagging Research Produced Interesting Results By Teal Barmore, February 25, 2019 Deep in the waters of Prince William Sound; large, light gray-brown fish with blotches and […]
February 13, 2019

For the Love of Herring

Maya Groner Shares All There is to Love About her Ichthyophonus Research   By Teal Barmore, February 13, 2019 Icthyophonus is a pathogen that affects the heart and […]
January 25, 2019

Alaska Marine Science Symposium

PWSSC researchers benefit from opportunities to present and network at AMSS By Teal Barmore, January 25, 2019 At the end of January, researchers from the Prince […]
January 14, 2019

Status of PWS Herring

Aerial herring surveys show record low biomass By Teal Barmore, January 14, 2019 The white color of herring milt allows researchers to use its prevalence as […]
December 13, 2018

Anne goes to Antarctica

PWSSC Research Assistant Travels for Seabird Surveys in the Southern Hemisphere By Teal Barmore, December 13, 2018 Seabird survey skills and a Cordova connection are taking […]
December 12, 2018

Locations of PWS acoustic arrays

***The point of contact for these moorings is Mary Anne Bishop (907) 424-5800 x 228 or Ben Gray (907) 424-5800 x 234 *** To download the […]
November 26, 2018

Oil Spill Recovery Institute

OSRI Celebrates 20 years of Funding Research By Teal Barmore, November 26, 2018 If you have been to our location on Breakwater Avenue in Cordova, you […]
November 5, 2018

Phytoplankton Monitoring

New Funding adds Phytoplankton Monitoring to Prince William Sound Oceanographic Monitoring Program By Teal Barmore, November 5th, 2018 With new funding from the North Pacific Research […]
October 25, 2018

Discovery Room 2018/19

Discovery Room introduces more Cordova students than ever this year to their sense of place. By Teal Barmore For 26 years, Prince William Sound Science Center’s education […]
October 10, 2018

2018 Tufted Puffin Field Work Photo Highlights

Prince William Sound Science Center researchers Dr. Kristen Gorman and Anne Schaefer spent two weeks at the end of July and beginning of August on Middleton […]
October 10, 2018

Overwinter Ecology Study of Tufted Puffins

By Teal Barmore, October 10, 2019 Seventy miles offshore in the middle of the Gulf of Alaska, at the edge of the continental shelf, sits Middleton […]
September 13, 2018

Pacific Herring Response to Predators

Dr. Pete Rand publishes work on Prince William Sound Pacific herring’s response to predators. By Teal Barmore The spring spawning event of Pacific herring in Prince […]
August 23, 2018

Anchorage Reception

[one_third_last] When? Friday, October 5 5:30 to 7:30 PM [/one_third_last]   [one_third_last] Where? Simon & Seafort’s Room 49 420 L Street Anchorage, AK 99501 [/one_third_last]   […]
August 16, 2018

Summer Education Wrap-up

By Lindsay Phillips Lauren Bien, education coordinator for the Science Center is wrapping up another eventful summer full of programs for children of all ages, including: […]
August 15, 2018

Alaska Hatchery Research Project

By Lindsay Phillips and Pete Rand The Prince William Sound Science Center has recently started field sampling for the 2018 season of the Alaska Hatchery Research Project […]
May 28, 2018

Studies of Reproductive Maturity among Age Cohorts of Pacific Herring

By Dr. Kristen Gorman  Photos by Teal Barmore  As part of the Herring Research and Monitoring (HRM) Program, a collaborative group of scientists from Prince William Sound Science […]
May 21, 2018

Shorebird Sampling for Avian Influenza

Photo Highlights by Teal Barmore For the third year in a row, researchers from the Prince William Sound Science Center and Tufts University captured, sampled, and […]
May 21, 2018

Lower Copper River Sonar Station Installation

Photo Highlights by Dr. Rob Campbell Dr. Rob Campbell and his two technicians, April Richards and Kevin Absil, installed the lower Copper River sonar station in mid-May, a project […]
May 1, 2018

Jig a Jig Jig –  Tagging Herring in Spring  

By Dr. Mary Anne Bishop   Photos by Ben Gray unless otherwise noted. Pacific herring, a small forage fish, has long been considered sensitive to handling.  As a result, there […]
April 17, 2018
PWS Acoustic Biomass Surveys

Photo Highlights by David Janka of Auklet Charters

David Janka has been doing acoustic biomass surveys with the Prince William Sound Science Center since 2007. This spring during the spawning biomass surveys he covered 713 nautical […]
April 15, 2018
Naked Island Weather Buoy

Weather Buoy Photo Highlights by Dr. Rob Campbell 

Last weekend, Dr. Rob Campbell deployed a new weather buoy in western PWS, about five miles due east of Naked Island. The buoy was deployed as […]
March 20, 2018
Ice Sheets to Oceans: Linkages between Changing Watersheds and the Northern Gulf of Alaska

PWSSC Staff present at the Copper River Delta Science Symposium

From March 27 to 29, researchers and educators from the Prince William Sound Science Center will be presenting their work to other researchers, decision makers, and […]
March 1, 2018

Cordova Sea Squirts upcoming program

Join us for some hands-on adventuring that is sure to get your preschooler thinking like a scientist! Who: Kids ages 3-5 (Caregivers must attend) Where: Education Room […]
February 27, 2018

Ocean Tracking Network Research Cruise

For the last 10 years, the Prince William Sound Science Center has maintained underwater acoustic arrays, a technology to tag and track marine animals, in Prince […]
February 27, 2018

Cordova teams win big at Alaska’s Tsunami Bowl

Imagine this:      You’re sitting at a table with three teammates; the opposing team sits at the table next to yours. Both teams sit quietly, […]
January 31, 2018

COASST Training Session

Join the conversation on the future of bird tagging on the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) blog. Representatives from COASST will be in Cordova […]
January 19, 2018

PWSSC Staff represent their work at AMSS

On Monday January 22, Prince William Sound Science Center staff will join over 700 scientists, educators, resource managers, students, and members of the public for Alaska’s […]
December 5, 2017

Citizen Science Opportunity in Cordova

Do you like to visit shorelines around Cordova? Are you interested in seabirds and helping collect data that can support scientists’ ability to evaluate changes in […]
October 16, 2017

Cordova Sea Squirts

Our education team is excited to announce a new, monthly series: CORDOVA SEA SQUIRTS! Join us for some hands-on adventuring that is sure to get your […]