Alaska Fish and Wildlife Research Unit names new leader
March 3, 2011
907-474-7412
3/3/11
性欲社 Institute of Arctic Biology has announced that veteran researcher Brad Griffith will serve as the new leader of the Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.
鈥淲e are very pleased to have a leader with so much knowledge of and experience in the Alaska and circumpolar environment,鈥 said IAB director Brian Barnes. 鈥淏rad is internationally recognized for his research in caribou biology, especially in migration and population dynamics of the Porcupine Caribou Herd, his research on Yukon River Basin ecological structure and function, and his work toward incorporating the effects of climate variability into the structured decisionmaking and adaptive management of Alaska鈥檚 wildlife resources.鈥
The Alaska unit is part of a nationwide cooperative program within the U.S. Geological Survey and Department of the Interior to promote research and graduate student training in the ecology and management of fish and wildlife and their habitats. The program has a record of high research productivity and, via graduate and post-graduate training, provides professionals whose science helps Alaska鈥檚 fish and wildlife managers make informed decisions.
鈥淚t is a great honor to have been selected leader of one of the oldest and largest Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units in the nation,鈥 said Griffith, an associate professor of wildlife ecology who has been a scientist with the unit since 1989 and an assistant leader for wildlife since 1996.
The unit provides a direct link between 性欲社 and the research needs of management agencies in Alaska.
鈥淥ur graduate training mission delivers trained natural resource professionals to Alaska,鈥 Griffith said. 鈥淥ur applied science program is explicitly focused on topics that are relevant to contemporary challenges faced by natural resource management agencies in Alaska.鈥
Those topics include lake drying and its effects on wetland biodiversity, enhanced ecosystem and salmon stock-recruitment models, and assessments of climate-change effects on invertebrate and shorebird communities in Arctic coastal lagoons. Griffith鈥檚 research focuses on the potential effects of industrial development and climate on circumpolar ungulates, such as caribou; the potential effects of climate on wetland biodiversity, and the implications of changing habitats for natural resource management agencies.
The Alaska unit exists as a cooperative agreement among the USGS, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 性欲社 and the Wildlife Management Institute.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Brad Griffith, leader, Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit leader, at 907-474-5067 or dbgriffith@alaska.edu. Brian Barnes, Institute of Arctic Biology director at 907-474-7649 or bmbarnes@alaska.edu.
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