Annual Report – 2024 Year in Review
This is the web version of this year’s Annual Report 2024 Year in Review document. The full report, along with past years’ reports and other documents, can be downloaded from the AK CASC Communication Products page.
2024 in review
With the inception of its third host cooperative agreement, 2024 saw the Alaska CASC engaging with new partners, establishing a new structure, and building upon successful ongoing programs and approaches. The University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Alaska Southeast, and University of Alaska Anchorage will continue to form the Alaska CASC University consortium through 2029. The new host agreement has led to increased investment in new partnerships and expanding our human infrastructure to provide the best available adaptation science to Alaska’s Tribes, natural and cultural resource managers, and research community.
To more fully serve these key audiences, the Alaska CASC hosted strategy meetings in Juneau, Anchorage, and Fairbanks to align priorities, engage with new partners, and plan for success over the coming years. Staff also engaged with actionable science-users as part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Relocation, Managed Retreat and Protect-in-Place cohort, during the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s EarthWeek conversation series, and as participants in annual meetings of the Northern Latitudes Partnerships and the Sustainable Southeast Partnership among other events.
The Alaska CASC team is growing with expanded capacity in science communication and community-engagement. New staff and faculty will increase our ability to communicate with communities and tribal partners, expand our science communication repertoire, and strengthen our connection to our consortium universities. Meanwhile the Alaska CASC fellows program and a new cohort of science communication interns continued to elevate the transdisciplinary skills necessary for conducting and communicating actionable climate science.
Climate Change Escalates Natural Hazards in Southeast Alaska
By Caroline Wexler
On a beautiful sunny day in August 2023, a record-breaking glacial lake outburst flood ripped through Alaska’s capital. A few months later in November 2023, south of Juneau, a massive landslide barreled down the Wrangell Mountains, killing six people. Governor Mike Dunleavy declared a state disaster emergency in response to the landslide. These devastating events impacted a myriad of people, homes, and infrastructure.
Suicide Basin—now in the process of being renamed to K’óox Ḵaadí Basin—the source of the flooding, contains a large ice-dammed lake. The basin sits under Suicide Glacier, which used to be connected to Mendenhall Glacier. As atmospheric temperature increased, Suicide Glacier receded enough to disconnect from the basin below. Alaska’s glaciers currently account for 25% of total glacier ice loss worldwide, as indicated in a 2021 study by Hugonnet and others.
Due to its bowl-like topography, rain and ice melt accumulate in the basin. The basin fills with water until a high enough water pressure breaks the ice dam, resulting in a flood known as a jökulhlaup, that affects downstream communities. The 2023 jökulhlaup was one of Alaska’s largest ever, with 13 billion gallons of water rushing farther downstream than past glacier lake outburst floods, affecting a densely populated region of Juneau.
A forecast improvement project on the Mendenhall jökulhaups started through the Alaska CASC but has grown into a larger, collaborative effort from scientists Eran Hood, Jason Amundson, and Christian Kienholz at the University of Alaska Southeast, the City and Borough of Juneau, the USGS, the National Weather Service, the US Forest Service, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
An 1893 image (top) shows Suicide Glacier connected to Mendenhall Glacier. Recently, the ice has drastically receded, creating a basin (bottom). (photo: Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center) 
Time lapse cameras capture peak water storage in Suicide Basin (left), and rapid draining (right). (photo: National Weather Service) 
The scarring impacts of the 2023 Wrangell landslide plowing down vegetation, infrastructure, and homes. (photo: Alaska Department of Transportation)
In addition to glacial lake outburst floods, the rainy climate of southeast Alaska, combined with its world-famous fjords and dense vegetation, make for prime landslide conditions.
Glacier lake outburst floods and landslides occur naturally throughout Southeast Alaska. However, rapid, human-caused climate change is increasing the intensity and unpredictability of these events.
Similar to the Mendenhall monitoring project, Gabriel Wolken, a research scientist at the Alaska CASC and manager of the Climate and Cryosphere Hazards Program at the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, is trying to monitor the timing and intensity of landslides with observational science using time-lapse cameras, drones, and streamflow gages. In addition to observations, Rick Lader and his team at the Alaska CASC provide downscaled model projections to tie-in the larger climate change picture. These tools will help create mitigation plans for local communities to minimize risks associated with future events.
Avalanches Jeopardize Mountain Goat Populations
By Maisy O’Neill
The lives and deaths of the collared goats form the basis of a long-term study published in April in Nature Communications Biology. The study’s findings uncover a previously unknown pathway in which snow avalanches can significantly impact populations of slow-growing mountain-adapted animals.
The publication was made possible by the collaborative efforts of interdisciplinary researchers from Alaska, Switzerland, and Canada. Kevin White of the University of Alaska Southeast and the University of Victoria collected extensive field data on mountain goats that was integrated with snow avalanche hazard models developed by Gabriel Wolken of the International Arctic Research Center and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. Eran Hood, a professor of environmental science at UAS and the study’s co-author, also lent his expertise in snow hydrology to the study. Wolken and Hood are the principal investigators of two Alaska CASC-funded projects utilized in the study.
Alaska’s mountainous terrain offers alpine-adapted animals sanctuary from wolves and bears, but the quiet slopes conceal their own grave risks. Snow avalanches are extremely forceful, fast-moving flows of snow accumulated on mountains and hills. When an avalanche occurs, the resulting chute is often swept clean of snow, exposing vital sustenance and vegetation during the long winter. However, the nearly vertical slopes mountain goats feed on and inhabit are prone to frequent, fatal avalanches.
The study tracked four populations of mountain goats in southeast Alaska over the span of 17 years. Within the four populations, 421 mountain goats were outfitted with collars and tracked via satellite tags and field observations with data-sharing agreements and funding from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The circumstance of the death of each collared individual was observed and assessed for correlation to snow avalanches.
The findings reveal that snow avalanches have a profound, unforgiving effect on small populations of mountain goats. Avalanches were responsible for more than ⅓ of all collared-individuals’ mortalities, depending on the area studied. Even more striking was the randomness of the mortalities. Reproductively important females and males of the populations were lost, suggesting that the fittest and healthiest individuals had no greater capacity to navigate avalanche-prone terrain or survive avalanches. These losses can devastate small, slow-growing populations of mountain-adapted ungulates and potentially trickle down the ecological food web, impacting the animals and humans who harvest them.
The study garnered attention from news outlets statewide, the New York Times, and researchers worldwide. These findings come at a crucial time, as mountain landscapes and ecosystems are changing more rapidly than ever. Snow is one climate-linked component in mountain goats’ habitat, increasing their vulnerability to rapid changes.
Northern notes
AK CASC WELCOMES NEW FACES
Patrick Lemons joined the AK CASC as our USGS Deputy Regional Administrator based in Anchorage.
Micah Hahn joined the AK CASC as a Co-Investigator out of the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Lori Petrauski joined the AK CASC as our Senior Tribal Climate Resilience Liaison. She is based in Fairbanks.
Stephanie Wright joined the AK CASC as an Alaska Fellow for Inspiring Girls* Expeditions, serving as their Assistant Coordinator for 2024.
Spencer Vieira joined the AK CASC as a post-graduate fellow with the ORISE program. He is based out of Anchorage and works with climate data processing.
Annika Ord joined the AK CASC as a Climate Adaptation Catalyst with the Sustainable Southeast Partnership and will be based out of Sitka.
Gabe Canfield joined the AK CASC as a Climate Adaptation Catalyst with the Northwest Boreal Partnership based out of Anchorage.
Christian Thorsberg joined the AK CASC as a Science Communicator based out of Anchorage. Christian joins the AK CASC with a recent background with the USFWS and a passion for photography and journalism.
Caroline Wexler, Maisy O’Neill, and Lia Ferguson joined the AK CASC as summer science communications interns. This year’s report is mostly a result of their hard work!
AK CASC GOODBYES
We’d like to thank all of the following folks for their time at the AK CASC, and wish them luck in their next endeavors.
Mimi Lesniak has retired from her position with the AK CASC after 14 years of being a lynchpin in our work. We all wish her the best in her retirement
Tess Hostetter has moved on from her position as a Tribal Liaison with the AK CASC and we look forward to future areas of collaboration.
STRENGTHENING RESILIENCE TODAY – The Native American Fish and Wildlife Society with Native Movement and the Alaska Tribal Resilience Learning Network have wrapped up the Strengthening Resilience Today project. Five community teams participated in trainings in Fairbanks and Anchorage to learn from one another and hear directly from climate scientists. The project also included two community visits to Kokhanok and Unalakleet.
INSPIRING GIRLS* EXPEDITIONS – Three IG*E expeditions across Alaska on ice, ocean, and river hosted 27 participants and 14 instructors and onsite coordinators in summer of 2023. Ten participants were Alaska residents from 9 different communities.
What Can Inspiring Girls* Learn From Alumni?
By Lia Ferguson
Inspiring Girls* Expeditions is a tuition-free program that expands access to science learning and outdoor exploration for youth with gender identities marginalized in science fields. Alaska expeditions have taken place each summer since 2012, and now the program is looking to their alumni to improve future experiences for participants.
AK CASC Tribal Liaison Malinda Chase brought together colleagues from Inspiring Girls* Expeditions Alaska, the Alaska Tribal Resilience Learning Network, the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society and the University of Alaska (UAF) Department of Social Work to conduct mixed methods research. The aim is to co-create future expeditions for Indigenous youth to expand their skills, knowledge, and networks. There have already been important findings. “Overwhelmingly, we’ve heard that connecting to lands and waters is both a strong motivator for and outcome of participating,” said Megan Pittas, assistant coordinator for the Alaska Tribal Resilience Learning Network.
The team will soon implement talking circles facilitated by an Elder with their Alaska Native alumni, a method proposed by Indigenous faculty and key research team member LaVerne Xilegg Demientieff, chair of the Department of Social Work at UAF. The research focuses on surveying all alumni. “Participants are hungry to learn more Indigenous Knowledge of the land, alongside Western science learning,” said Joanna Young, Inspiring Girls* program director.
Meet Fellow Maggie Harings
By Lia Ferguson
Maggie Harings, a graduate fellow with the Alaska CASC and NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recipient, has over 12 years of experience working in fisheries and natural resources. Originally from Wisconsin, Harings has been working her way west studying fish and wildlife. She worked for the State of Idaho and in northern California before moving to Alaska to run a salmon weir. Just before starting her fellowship, she studied juvenile coho salmon while overseeing the Kenai Watershed Forum’s Water Quality Monitoring Program in Soldotna, Alaska.
“Seeing salmon decline here in Alaska, and even more severely down in Idaho has really drawn me to study and address fish because I see the direction that things are moving,” she said. “Finding ways that we can adapt our field techniques and protocols in accordance with a changing climate is, I think, going to be the future of research in Alaska.”
Harings can connect with others who were drawn to this work through a love of the outdoors. “My dad taught me to fish in the Boundary Waters and my mom taught me outdoor skills. But just from that upbringing, my passion for conservation and natural resources grew over time,” she said. “Our family was always very mindful of respecting resources.”
Her current research focuses on developing a method to use environmental DNA (eDNA) collected from rivers to assess the quantity of Chinook and chum salmon present—an innovative tool for “when logistics, funding, or environmental events render traditional counting methods infeasible,” Harings said. Her project continues to progress in exciting ways. “The samples are currently being analyzed. So we’re really close to getting some data. I have some preliminary results,” she said as of mid-June. These results come from samples collected by technicians without much experience in molecular biology or sample collection. “They were successfully able, with a single two-hour training, to go out and collect eDNA samples that looked great when they came back, which was a massive success for this project.”
Featured Publications
Gwendolyn Quigley, Todd J. Brinkman, Ryan Wilson, Aaron Christ. 2024. Behavioral response of polar bears to aircraft activity on the northern coast of Alaska. The Journal of Wildlife Management. e22554: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.22554.
Amber N. Runyon, Gregor W. Schuurman, Brecken C. Robb, Jeremy Littell, Mark E. Miller, Joel H. Reynolds. 2024. Climate-resource scenarios to inform climate change adaptation in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve: Summary of 2021 climate change scenario planning. USNPS Natural Resource Report. https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2301920. DOI: 10.36967/2301920.
Matthew R. Dunkle, J. Ryan Bellmore, Jason B. Fellman, Christopher C. Caudill. 2023. Glaciers, snow, and rain: Water source influences invertebrate community structure and secondary production across a hydrologically diverse subarctic landscape. Limnology and Oceanography. 1-14: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12451.
Stephen Gray – USGS Director – sgray@usgs.gov
Scott Rupp – University Director – tsrupp@alaska.edu
UA is an AA/EO employer and educational institution and prohibits illegal discrimination against any individual. www.alaska.edu/nondiscrimination