Shannon Atkinson, Ph.D. is a tenured professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. With over 23 years of research and teaching experience, Dr. Atkinson is a well-suited to share her knowledge with the next generation. She has authored over a hundred publications related to marine animals, endangered and threatened species, reproductive physiology, nutritional chemistry, pollution and conta minants, in both peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. Dr. Atkinson has extensive experience working with endangered species and has served on four recovery teams for NMFS and USFWS, giving her insight into the management needs of small and declining populations. Additionally, she has served as chair on 29 graduate student committees, as well as participated as a member on 28 other graduate student committees. She enjoys research and loves working with animals. And perhaps most importantly, Dr. Atkinson is a longtime fan of the Sitka Whale Fest!

Marnie Chapman is dedicated to increasing understanding of marine invasive species. She has collaborated on invasive tunicate studies with NOAA, UCSF and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Whiting Harbor, near Sitka, hosts the only known Alaskan population of Didemnum vexillum (D. vex), an invader that now carpets extensive areas of the North Atlantic sea floor. Studies on invasive tunicates in Alaska may help us control or eradicate it. Marnie believes Sitka has a unique stewardship role and that all can help by knowing how to recognize and report D. vex, should it ever turn up outside Whiting Harbor. Her Scientists in the Schools presentation fosters this goal by giving Sitka 6th graders practice in identifying native and invasive marine species. Students will use microscopes to analyze organisms growing on settlement plates, a monitoring technique used for long term studies of marine invasive species.

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated with the ocean and everything that lives in and around it. I grew up in Ohio so getting to the ocean was not a particularly easy thing and I’m convinced that dreaming about it was even rarer. Instead I would read every book I could get my hands on, watch the Discovery channel and day dream of having my office one day be the ocean. I attended Coastal Carolina University and decided to pursue this dream and received my bachelor’s degree in Marine Science. While there I was able to fuel my interest by getting involved in bottlenose dolphin studies and working summers in the North Atlantic on large whale survey cruises. Alaska was always a place that I knew I wanted to visit. I moved to Sitka in 2003 where I had the amazing opportunity to work at Mt. Edgecumbe High School as a Resiliency Counselor and study marine mammals while working with Jan Straley. I completed my master’s degree in Marine Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2010. My thesis research required me to spend three summers out of Dutch Harbor collecting data to better understand the numbers and distribution of humpback whales utilizing the Eastern Aleutian Islands. Since completing my graduate degree I have also worked on projects here in southeast Alaska, the Gulf of Alaska, and the Bering Sea. My biggest passion is my family—I’m a wife to a Coast Guard aviator and a mother of two little girls. I also have a heart for outreach education and realize the value of sharing knowledge while always being open to learn more! I’ve made it a priority to get involved with youth and share my passion for the ocean and the marine mammal research that happens here in Alaska. I will be presenting and challenging the 7th graders at Blatchley Middle School to explore how scientists follow and collect data on animals that spend the majority of their lives underwater (using telemetry) while tying in a physical and earth science component.

Jit Sarkar is a postdoctoral research associate visiting us from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in San Diego, having recently started working with Jan Straley on monitoring whale depredation activities, in collaboration with Aaron Thode (also of SIO). Jit arrives in Sitka via a convoluted global path: he was originally born and raised in the UK, before moving to India to finish up secondary school. He then hopped across the world again to the East Coast, where he earned his B.Sc degree from the University of Virginia, focusing on computer science, electrical engineering, and astronomy. Finally, Jit made the trek across to the West Coast, where he studied at SIO in the field of ocean acoustics to earn his M.Sc. and Ph.D degrees in oceanography. San Diego has now been his home for a (surprising) 10 years straight! Technology has always been front and foremost throughout Jit's academic career, and the application of modern equipment and methods to help the work (and lives) of those around him, is a primary interest of his. So, while Jit is only just beginning to gain experience with marine mammal research himself, he has been fascinated by whales his whole life, and is excited to see how his technical background can help further the work done at the Science Center.

Dr. George has worked as the lead biologist for the North Slope Borough with a focus on bo whead whale population dynamics, working closely with the Inupiaq people from Barrow and other Arctic communities. Not only is he a skilled biologist, with a keen eye for observing and listening, he is a talented musician and singer song writer, as well. His past visits to Sitka have left long lasting impressions on the audiences both at the three day science symposiu m during the scientific presentations but as performer during the local variety/talent night called the Maritime Grind. Besides his successful professional life as a renowned large whale biologist, serving on many national and international committees, and his skilled musical abilities, he is ALSO a mentor and role model to the young men and women of the North, engaging them in thoughtful dialogue about the changes to come in the Arctic. As a understated educator to the young minds of Barrow and other communities he will subtly guide future generations to live wisely and carefully in the Arctic landscape.

Lauren was born and raised in Sitka, where she spent much of her childhood in the wilderness and on the water. She obtained a B.A. in International and Global Studies from Brandeis University in Boston, Massachusetts in 2009. After graduating from college, she was hired as a research assistant on the Southeast Alaska Sperm Whale Avoidance Project (SEASWAP), which is based in Sitka. SEASWAP is a collaborative effort between scientists, fishermen, and managers to understand sperm whale depredation of commercial longline fishing gear in the Gulf of Alaska. In 2012, Lauren headed back to school at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where she received a MS in Marine Mammal Science in August of 2013. She has now returned to Sitka to work full time as a bio-acoustician managing the Cetacean Acoustics Lab at the Sitka Sound Science Center. Lauren grew up having scientists visit her classes in Sitka and going to Whalefest. She appreciates the rich marine environment of Sitka, and Southeast Alaska, and wants to keep students interested and excited about science. Her work with Scientists in the Schools will focus on sound, and how acoustics are used in research on marine mammal interactions with fisheries in Alaska, and beyond.