Overview

In 2023, the National Science Foundation awarded $20 million to 91ֱ��EPSCoR to study culturally and commercially important marine species in the Gulf of Alaska over five years. This is the sixth, multimillion , or "Track-1" award project administered by the 91ֱ��EPSCoR program.

The project unites researchers from the University of 91ֱ��Fairbanks, the University of 91ֱ��Anchorage and the University of 91ֱ��Southeast. They partner with eight Gulf of 91ֱ��communities: Seldovia, Halibut Cove, 91ֱ��r, Cordova, Valdez, Juneau, Haines and Klukwan.

Researchers investigate the ecological resilience of several key coastal species that were identified by people in these communities. Researchers will also see if people have identified changes in harvest of these species, and how changes in harvests affect the social, health, and economic well-being.

Project goals stem from conversations with local community members, tribal entities, shellfish and kelp farmers, and government agency representatives that took place over two years with the help of an NSF planning grant. The grant allowed researchers to listen to community concerns and develop relevant research questions.

Interface of Change project design — Graphical overview of the approach, design, and integration of the Interface of Change project.

Vision

The vision of Interface of Change is to build resilience in Gulf of 91ֱ��coastal communities through co-developed, use-inspired research on land-to-ocean linkages that influence marine resources using place-based, equitable science.

Mission

The mission is for Interface of Change researchers to work collaboratively with coastal community partners to identify changing any patterns in marine harvest species and to model potential community adaptation strategies. Interface of Change researchers will work in parallel with rural communities, industry farmers, and agency managers to identify and link environmental drivers to marine wild harvested and farmed resources.

Goals

The goals of Interface of Change are to:

1) Build collaborative research capacity to assess how marine resources on which Gulf of 91ֱ��coastal communities are reliant, and

2) Generate environmental data and web-based tools to inform adaptive community solutions to sustainably harvest and farm marine resources. Research will take place across University of 91ֱ��(UA) campuses in Fairbanks (UAF), Anchorage (UAA) and Juneau (UAS) and align strongly with both UA research goals and the State of Alaska’s Science and Technology Plan.