Tobias Schwoerer

ISER researchers Tobias Schwörer, Kevin Berry and Marie Lowe are part of an interdisciplinary team of researchers looking at how increased ocean acidification (OA) may impact Alaska salmon fisheries and adaptation measures available to fisheries stakeholders and policymakers. 

The problem of invasive species is still in the early stages in Alaska, but a number of them are here. They can crowd out local species and damage ecosystems—and also create economic costs. In a talk at the Anchorage Museum that’s free and open to the public, Tobias Schwörer, a senior research professional at ISER, will help Alaskans understand the risks invasive species pose.

He'll talk about his recent research linking biology and economics to analyze the potential harm that elodea, Alaska's first aquatic invasive plant, creates for Alaska’s environment and economy. The talk is sponsored by the Committee for Noxious and Invasive Pests Management and UAF's Cooperative Extension Service. Come to the museum and learn about elodea and the risks it brings to Alaska.

When: Monday, October 23, 7 p.m.
Where: Anchorage Museum, 625 C Street

Updated February 4, 2016

Researchers at ISER and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources are surveying floatplane pilots, to collect information that will help state and federal resource managers protect remote lakes and streams from invasive plants.

Learn more about this survey.

Note: This post is not the survey. If you received a letter from us, please enter the personalized link you are provided with into the URL address field of your Internet browser (usually in the top left corner of the browser window). It should look similar to: http://www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu/A#### (where the # is your personalized ID). Do NOT enter this link into google search or the search field of your browser.

You are in the right place when you see the survey and a personalized greeting containing your first and last name.

Alaska relies much more on air and water transportation than the Lower 48 states do, so it's especially vulnerable to the kinds of fuel price spikes that happened in mid-2008 and again between 2009 and 2010. A new report analyzes how higher fuel prices affect the costs of transportation in the state and work their way through the economy. It is the first study of this kind for Alaska. The authors are ISER economists Ginny Fay, Tobias Schwörer, Mouhcine Guettabi, and Jeffrey Armagost. 

The first analysis of the economic effects of invasive species in Alaska finds that governments and nonprofit groups spent about $29 million from 2007 to 2011, or nearly $6 million a year, to manage those species. Tobias Schwörer of ISER and Rebekka Federer and Howard Ferren of the Alaska SeaLife Center did the analysis, based on a survey of public and private organizations that deal with invasive species around the state. The research was funded by several federal and state agencies.

A new analysis by ISER researchers Ginny Fay, Alejandra Villalobos Meléndez, and Tobias Schwörer examines how the current Power Cost Equalization (PCE) program formula affects incentives for rural communities to increase their energy efficiency and add renewable energy sources. The state PCE program helps bring the high cost of electricity in small rural places closer to costs in urban areas, by paying eligible utilities part of the costs of the first 500 kilowatt hours of electricity for each residential customer every month. PCE rates are currently linked to fuel costs and use.