Alaska Sea Grant

Alaska Sea Grant’s latest round of research projects stretch across the state of Alaska and the scale of life on earth !! 🌎

The five projects selected to receive Alaska Sea Grant funding from 2026-28 reach from Utqiagvik to Sitka, and focus on organisms as small as microbes and as large as gray whales. 🐋

“This year’s projects exemplify how broad a reach Alaska Sea Grant has,” said Molly Cain, Alaska Sea Grant’s associate director for research. “They all address very different topics, but each will make a substantial contribution to our knowledge of conditions along Alaska’s coastlines and rivers.” 🌊

A total of 22 Alaskan research teams submitted preproposals, of whom 11 were encouraged to submit full proposals. Awarded proposals were selected based on their scientific merit, relevance to Alaska’s needs, and alignment with Alaska Sea Grant’s focus areas of healthy coastal ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, resilient communities and economies, and environmental literacy and workforce development. Each project supports a graduate student, incorporates community partners and includes an outreach plan to engage and inform the public. 🤝🏼

Learn more about each of the projects on our website 🔗 linked in below. alaskaseagrant.org > News

🔗: https://alaskaseagrant.org/2026/05/alaska-sea-grant-announces-research-awards/

NEW: More than 1.5 MILLION pounds of trash were cleaned up from Alaskan coastlines in 2025! 🌊

Developed in collaboration with Alaska Sea Grant and Sitka Sound Science Center, our recent statewide report shows just how impactful cleanups organized by Tribes, communities, fishermen, business, nonprofits and other across Alaska were last year. More than 1,600 ocean advocates and 25 lead entities helped make this incredible impact happen!

Our own Arctic Marine Debris Manager Kristina Tirman says it best: “This report gives us an opportunity to better understand the scale of the marine debris problem in Alaska and highlight the incredible efforts happening in communities across the state.”

We are proud to support and amplify the work of the organizations and Tribes who have been leading this work to protect Alaska’s coastlines and communities. Check out the full report PDF for all the incredible data from 2025’s Alaska cleanups! 🚮

🗞️ Learn more: https://bit.ly/4uQHn3W

📊 Full report: https://bit.ly/49E6QVJ

From the ship's log:

Tomorrow ... 🗺️

Check out the NEW Alaska Oyster Voyage !! 🗺️🦪

Get ready to in an all new way. 🦪

06/04/2026 🤫

Join us via ZOOM next Wednesday for the next presentation in our Strait Science series…

AVIAN INFLUENZA: AN UPDATE ON ALASKA’S WILDLIFE!

📆 Wednesday, June 3
⏰ 6:30 pm
📍Remote via Zoom

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is an emerging wildlife disease that has become more common in Alaska since 2022. Come hear the latest HPAI info and updates, how it has affected Alaska’s wildlife and how you can support 2026 sampling efforts for HPAI in the Bering Strait region.

Join Zoom Meeting:
🔗 https://tinyurl.com/5xwz8fjn

Meeting ID: 894 5376 0932 Passcode: 992464
Or call: 253 215 8782

Andy Ramey is a research biologist with USGS Alaska Science Center. Lisa Kercher is a research biologist with the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Strait Science (UAF): https://www.uaf.edu/nwc/outreach/strait-science.php

Strait Science (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuuqkhFcq8ifdnRxDaKYiRiewrQSvzcA6