Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems LTER is a new Long Term Ecological Research program along the northern Alaskan Arctic coastline in the Beaufort Sea. Lagoon systems encompass more than half of the Beaufort Sea coast, providing food and habitat for large populations of migratory fish and waterfowl that are essential to the culture of Inupiat communities of northern Alaska. We believe that the differential availability of seasonally distinct resources is critical for maintaining the high productivity of these ecosystems. BLE will use sampling, monitoring, and modeling to study these lagoons and their interactions with the surrounding environment to better understand how these ecosystems function and to predict how they will change in the coming decades.

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AccuWeather Highlights BLE Research

AccuWeather story features PIs Amber Hardison (UTMSI) and Vanessa Lougheed (UTEP), who discuss the ecological importance of Arctic lagoons and how BLE LTER research relates to needs of the local community.

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Ph.D. Assistantship in Arctic Estuarine Food Web Ecology

A Ph.D. research assistantship is available (beginning summer/fall 2019) in Katrin Iken's lab at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (UAF, CFOS) (https://www.uaf.edu/cfos/). This position is part of a new Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program funded by the National Science Foundation to study the food web ecology of Beaufort Sea lagoons. The student's research would focus on discerning how variable carbon inputs (terrestrial, marine phytoplankton, sea ice) are utilized in the lagoon systems over the course of the year from frozen to break-up to open water. We seek applicants with a background in trophic ecology, especially with lab and data analysis skills in stable isotope analysis, compound-specific (amino acid) stable isotope analysis, and/or fatty acid analysis. The student is expected to participate in field work in the Arctic as well as develop a strong research thesis project. Applicants should have a M.S. degree in a marine or environmental science field, a strong academic background, show evidence of independent work in the field and/or lab, and demonstrate a capacity to contribute to a collaborative research environment. For more information, please email a statement of interest/background and a copy of your CV to Katrin Iken (kbiken@alaska.edu).

Links:
Iken faculty page
CFOS graduate program

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