A newsletter from the Prince William Sound Science Center

Summer 2025

Thank you to everyone who supported our 26th annual Copper River Nouveau! Visit the event page to view the photo gallery of the night's festivities. Image by Jessica Kate Photography.

PACIFIC HERRING AND PINK SALMON INTERACTIONS RESEARCH CRUISE

In June, Krimson Anderson, a research and field technician with the Prince William Sound Science Center, participated in a research cruise focused on the ecological interactions between Pacific herring and pink salmon. This work is part of a multi-year study aimed at understanding how predation, competition, and disease affect the survival and recruitment of these species.

Researchers are particularly interested in whether juvenile pink salmon prey on larval herring during offshore migrations, whether the two species compete for similar food sources, and how a disease called Viral Erythrocytic Necrosis (VEN) impacts both populations.

To investigate these questions, the team uses a combination of field sampling, lab analysis, and modeling. Techniques include stomach content analysis, DNA barcoding, and stable isotope analysis to understand diet and trophic interactions. Fish were collected using various methods, including purse and beach seining, as well as more creative approaches like jigging and dip and cast netting.

Sampling took place at five sites in western Prince William Sound, chosen based on historical data and aimed to capture spatial and temporal variation in species interactions. A typical day on a boat is long and intense. Research tasks include fish collection, deploying plankton tows and CTDs, and processing fish samples.

This research is vital for understanding the reciprocal nature of interactions between pink salmon and Pacific herring. Ultimately, this work contributes to a broader understanding of ecosystem dynamics in a region still recovering from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Family, friends, and colleagues celebrate with Hawaiian shirts and mustaches for Scott's last day at the office. Scott is center right, in turquoise. Photo by PWSSC.

Best known around the office for “Hawaiian shirt Friday” and sporting a mustache regardless of societal trends, Dr. Scott Pegau has retired after 18 years as the Research Program Manager for the Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI) and 16 years as a research scientist and program manager for the Herring Research and Monitoring (HRM) program. When the need arose, Scott also stepped up to advise and assist with the financial nuances of running a nonprofit.

A physical oceanographer by training, with a doctorate from Oregon State University, Scott oversaw OSRI’s efforts to fund and coordinate vital research on oil pollution and oil spill response and recovery in Arctic and sub-Arctic marine waters. Staff favorites among his projects include the remotely operated surface vessel for oil spill response (AKA the flame-throwing jet ski) and the model duck for gavage training.

As program manager for HRM, Scott coordinated long-term scientific efforts to understand and support herring recovery in Prince William Sound following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He organized interdisciplinary teams and brought structure to a previously fragmented body of work. His leadership helped produce the data and coordination necessary to inform fisheries management decisions, contributing to the reopening of bait and roe-on-kelp fisheries for the first time in over three decades.

Scott is widely admired for his dedication, curiosity, problem-solving skills, and scientific integrity. In recognition of his steady leadership and enduring contributions, he was named the 2025 recipient of the PWSSC Fisheries Achievement Award. We thank him for his years of service, the many jars of jam he shared, and his lasting impact on marine science in Alaska.

May your net always be full of salmon, and your berry bucket overflowing, Scott!

CCE interns aboard our research vessel, New Wave. Photo by Cristina Reo.

The Community Coastal Experience (CCE), an annual internship program for adults from south-central Alaska, just wrapped up its third year. In June, eight interns traveled to Anchorage, Kachemak Bay, and Cordova to explore environmental monitoring and Alaska Native culture across the region.

While in Cordova, they worked with the Prince William Sound Science Center to learn about our research. Interns joined our staff in identifying juvenile fish, performing fish dissections, exploring bomb calorimetry, heading out on our research vessel, conducting plankton tows, learning about the mariculture industry, visiting a kelp farm, and touring our kelp nursery.

They also collaborated with several of our partners throughout the region. With the Copper River Watershed Project, they investigated fish passage, while at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, they learned about fish management practices. Their work with the U.S. Forest Service included maintaining dusky Canada goose nest islands and monitoring an archaeological site. Additionally, during their time with the Native Village of Eyak, interns made drums and beaded suncatchers, and foraged for Native plants.

By the end of the program, these eight interns left with greater confidence, a deeper understanding of work happening in the region, a clearer sense of direction for their futures, and for some, the connections they made even led to job offers before the program concluded.

Sockeye salmon smolt with microacoustic tag. Photo by PWSSC.

The Prince William Sound Science Center has a pilot project to study juvenile sockeye salmon during their spring smolt migration, the time when young salmon leave freshwater nursery areas and head to the ocean. In June, Dr. Pete Rand and field technician Jasmine Becker traveled to Crosswind Lake in the Gulkana River Watershed, a major upper Copper River tributary, to implant microacoustic tags into smolts captured using a fyke net. The tags, about the size of two grains of rice, were inserted through a brief surgical process under anesthesia. Tagged and control fish were monitored post-surgery, and all recovered quickly and survived the entire holding period.

These microacoustic tags transmit signals detectable from over 150 meters away, offering promising potential to track smolt movement downstream and into the ocean. This work is part of a larger goal to understand salmon across their entire life cycle, especially early stages, which are understudied compared to adult migration. With varied river systems across the Copper River basin, each expected to respond differently to climate change, expanding this study could help identify how environmental factors influence salmon survival and guide sustainable management of future runs.

We hope to secure additional funding to expand this pilot project into a comprehensive study that will allow us to compare the fates of smolts originating from different river systems in the upper Copper River basin.

COMMUNITY PATHWAYS TO STUDENT SCIENCE

Cordova High School's environmental science students head to Odiak Pond for monthly sampling. Photo by PWSSC.

As part of the Community Organized Restoration and Learning (CORaL) Network, Community Pathways to Student Science (COMPASS) was launched to support STEM education by building a regional network of partnerships while gathering crucial data in the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem.

By connecting communities, researchers, teachers, and students, COMPASS fosters a deeper understanding of the scientific process and local environmental issues, while contributing to impactful research. Inspired by the success of the Seward-based SeeBird High School science project, COMPASS expands this foundation to other communities and an array of ecosystem components, including injured species, intertidal invertebrates, and ocean conditions.

The Prince William Sound Science Center launched this program in Cordova for the 2024-2025 school year at Cordova High School with the environmental science class. Educators Lauren Bien and Cristina Reo met monthly with the class to facilitate environmental sampling at Odiak Pond. Students sampled three different stations for dissolved oxygen, dissolved carbon dioxide, temperature, pH, and more for eight months.

At the end of the year, students analyzed their collected data for trends, ran statistical tests, and presented their findings in a final project. Final projects for Liz Heidbrink and Michelle Ladd can be viewed at the links.

Students from across Prince William Sound visit Cordova for a Sound-Connections field trip. Photo by Kate Trudeau.

A typical field trip usually involves getting on a bus. But our field trips are anything but typical! In May, students from Valdez and Whittier ferried to Cordova for a “forming sound connections” field trip hosted by the Science Center. Students connected more deeply with themselves, nature, and students from across the Sound. They went on joint field trips around town, exploring art, science, and culture.

Mt. Eccles' third, fourth, and fifth graders joined visiting students for a painting class with local artists David Rosenthal and Denis Keough. Cordova’s fourth graders worked with a PWSSC scientist to tow for plankton in the harbor and observe the tiny creatures under a microscope. Fifth graders from Cordova and Valdez learned how communities must collaborate to monitor and protect Prince William Sound from invasive European green crabs.

Cultural learning was also part of the experience. Shyla West from the Native Village of Eyak led games to introduce Sugt’stun names for local birds, and Science Center researchers demonstrated bird capture and banding techniques. Students experimented with different materials in a mock oil spill clean-up, illustrating the difficulty of the task and the importance of proper oil containment.

In between lessons, students enjoyed bird walks, nature journaling, and a campfire dinner at Mile 27 of the Copper River Highway. They boarded the ferry on Sunday, exhausted and appreciative of our shared ecosystem.

This experience was made possible by the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council. Special thanks to our partners and volunteers: David Rosenthal, Dennis Keough, Milo Burcham, Shyla West, Aaron Bowman, PWSSC scientists Anne Schaefer, Sarah Hoepfner, and Jess Pretty, and the participating schools: Hermon Hutchens Elementary, Mt. Eccles Elementary, and Whittier Community School.

Dr. Rao Chaganti

Liz Carter

Dr. Rao Chaganti is a molecular ecologist and biotechnology specialist with over two decades of experience in microbial genomics, environmental microbiology, and aquatic ecosystem health. He holds a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and completed advanced postdoctoral training in anaerobic digestion and freshwater microbial ecology.

Dr. Chaganti’s research integrates high-resolution omics approaches—including metagenomics, transcriptomics, and CRISPR-based genome editing—to investigate microbial processes influencing water quality, harmful algal blooms, invasive species, and aquatic food web dynamics. His work significantly focuses on host-microbe interactions, aiming to identify and optimize microbial strains that enhance resilience, disease resistance, and sustainability in both wild and aquaculture-based fish populations.

His research also intersects food microbiology and viral food safety, particularly through developing microbial and molecular strategies that support aquaculture health, detect viral and bacterial pathogens, and ensure the safety and integrity of aquatic food systems. He collaborates extensively with academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profit organizations, emphasizing field-based, systems-level solutions to contemporary environmental challenges.

As Director of the Integrated Omics Lab, Dr. Chaganti leads a mission-driven program to advance integrative microbial science to support ecosystem resilience, sustainable resource management, and public health.

Liz Carter holds a B.S in Environmental Studies from Yale University. She is a seasonal lab and field technician under Dr. Pete Rand this summer. Liz is assisting in multiple studies of interactions between Pacific salmon and Pacific herring, participating in lake and stream surveys for an adult sockeye salmon telemetry project, and identifying marine and freshwater plankton and larval fishes. Before moving to Cordova, Liz worked in climate science communication at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy in Fairbanks. In her free time, she enjoys running, hiking, cross-country skiing, and baking.