University of Alaska Student Subunit

was presented with the award for Outstanding Student Subunit.

Congratulations!!

For this 40^th annual meeting of our chapter, we have chosen a theme that celebrates the many varied peoples who contribute to the health and sustainability of Alaska’s fisheries and fishing communities, whether as biologists, fisheries managers, students, artists, and so on. This theme will be exemplified through a broad array of sessions, including keynotes from (TBD), contributed oral sessions, and a poster session, and a long list of TBD social activities and tours.

This year’s meeting will also involve some new elements: an open mic night & social following the poster session; a trivia challenge with prizes during the banquet; and 20-minute “learning studios” in which experts will offer mini-lessons to small audiences on fisheries-related topics.

If you’re interested in helping with meeting planning, social activities, or local arrangements, please contact Chapter President Elect and Program Committee Chair Philip Loring (ph: 907-474-7163; email: *protected email*).

Hope to see you all in Fairbanks this fall!!

Sessions can focus on the practice of fisheries science or management, can be disciplinary or interdisciplinary, and should include 4-6 presentations at a length of 20 minutes each, which includes time for questions. Session chairs should send a short (250 word) abstract and a (tentative) list of speakers to *protected email* for consideration by June 15.

We are also recruiting session chairs for the more standard topic, open-submission sections related to fisheries science and management. Please send an email to *protected email* if you are interested in chairing sessions on such topics as:

• Marine fisheries
• Freshwater fisheries
• Habitat
• Recent Advances in Fish and Fisheries
• Hatcheries
• Human Dimensions
• Modeling
• Food Webs
• Research Methods
• Etc.

If you have questions or other recommendations regarding conference content, please contact us. Again, the deadline for session submission is June 15.

• Casie Stockdale is a fisheries biologist with the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) in Bethel. Her primary area of interest is on the human dimensions of fisheries, and she plans to both continue building the AVCP fisheries program through development of cooperative research projects, and to pursue further education through the University of Alaska.
• Danielle Duncan is a Master’s student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences in Juneau.  In her research, she has worked cooperatively with UAS, UAF, and NMFS to study the toxicity of creosote-treated pilings on herring embryos and larvae.

Molly Ahlgren Scholarship Winner:

• Ryan Lucas, is a junior at the University of Alaska Anchorage and is working towards a B.S. degree in Biology.

Best Student Papers:

• Trevor Haynes, “Using Multiple Survey Methods to Examine Detection Probabilities of Arctic Fishes in Lakes in the North Slope, AK”

Best Student Poster:

• Kyle Shedd, “Trophic Patterns of Mercury Accumulation in a Anadromous Aquatic Ecosystem, in Southwest Alaska”

The socials and field trips showcased the best of Kodiak and the weather was fantastic.

Thanks to all who helped plan and organize the meeting and thanks to all the participants for making this meeting a success.

Stay tuned for details about the 2013 Chapter Meeting.

Chuck received a plaque and a $1000 award. Upon receiving his check, Chuck graciously donated it back to the chapter. Thank you for your generosity!

The Awards Committee selected Bill Bechtol for the Alaska Chapter Service Award. Bill was honored for his active involvement and leadership in the Chapter, including his service as editor of Oncorhynchus and his past service as Chapter President.

THANK YOU to everyone who bid, your contributions will enable the chapter to continue to offer students the opportunity to attend our Chapter Meetings for free or at reduced rates.

Thanks to Michael Bach for acting as auctioneer and to the many individuals and businesses who donated items to the auctions.

Listing of 2012 Donors to the Student Travel Fund:

New members of the Executive Committee are Jennifer Stahl as Vice President and Kari Fenske as the Student Representative. Lee Ann Gardner was re-elected as Treasurer.

Thank you for your volunteer service!

Lisa Stuby created an idea for the Series #3 t-shirt, The Alaska King Crab.  She gave the concept along with some photographs to Karen Lybrand, the artist who created the graphics on the previous two t-shirts.  Karen Lybrand has been a long-time collaborator with Ray Troll and did the graphic design work (Ray did the artwork) on the 2005 “Creating a Fisheries Mosaic” poster for the 2005 National AFS meeting in Anchorage. More recently Karen’s work has been seen at The Smithsonian, Miami Museum of Science, NY Hall of Science, and other venues.

Steve Jewett provided advice on the draft drawing to make it as scientifically accurate as possible for a piece of artwork meant to grace the back of a t-shirt.

These t-shirts are 100% pre-shrunk cotton and machine washable and are very good quality.  ALL proceeds from Series #3 t-shirts will go to student travel to future AK Chapter AFS meetings.