Ocean acidification is expected to impact Alaska’s marine species and the $5.8 billion seafood industry. Higher acidity water affects the ability of shell-building organisms, like crabs, to develop and maintain their shells and may also affect the behavior of some fish species. Alaska is predisposed to ocean acidification due to […]
ISER’s former director, Gunnar Knapp, Professor Emeritus of Economics, gave a presentation on “Long-Term Trends in the Pacific Salmon Industry” at the Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Reno, Nevada on October 1st, 2019. Knapp was an invited speaker at a symposium on “The Science of Pacific Salmon Conservation: Foundations, Myths, and Emerging Insights.”
This summer, Alaska’s high temperatures broke records causing more Alaskans than ever to experience the effects of widespread wildfires. Wildfires, along with unstable permafrost, and rain-in-winter are natural hazards of climate change that put residents and property at risk. Assessing the costs, risks, and actions necessary to adapt to or […]
The New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries is contracting with ISER for consulting advice on economic aspects of fisheries management, to be provided by Ralph Townsend, ISER director. As part of the work, Townsend will be making four trips to Wellington, New Zealand. Townsend was Chief Economist for the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries from 2007-2010, and the current consulting work is related to his earlier role.
Can countries be fair, prosperous, and green? That’s one of the questions that Kevin Berry, assistant professor of economics at ISER, considered with his colleagues at a recent meeting of the Beijer Young Scholars Programme in Stockholm, Sweden.
Berry brings an expertise in environmental economics to the cross-disciplinary international network […]
This summer, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed two lakes in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to control the spread of the freshwater invasive plant Elodea by floatplanes and boats. Clean-up efforts for the two lakes are predicted to cost $1 million. While the price for clean up is high, […]
ISER’s Jennifer Schmidt, Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Management and Policy, is working with researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Alaska Center for Energy and Power and College of Engineering and Mines to examine food, energy and water (FEW) security issues in rural Alaska and determine how small-scale renewable […]
Tourism in Alaska is a growth industry, with much of the revenue generated below the Arctic Circle. But the Arctic’s unique natural environment and tourists’ desire to see the Arctic before it changes – sometimes called “last chance tourism” – is drawing more and more travelers above the Arctic Circle. […]
For a long time cold weather and geographic isolation protected Alaska from invasive species, but globalization and a changing climate are bringing increased risk. Environmental managers tasked with preventing the spread of invasive species (IS) may do everything they can to prevent the introduction, but travelers, tourists, and companies moving […]
Chris Southcott, who has been involved in community-based research in the circumpolar north for more than 30 years, will share final results from his Resources and Sustainable Development (ReSDA) project, which looked at developing ways to ensure that a larger share of resource development benefits stay in the region, and […]
