the Breakwater

A newsletter from the Prince William Sound Science Center

April 2, 2024

Mt. Eccles Elementary School sixth graders are focused on a series of tasks during the ROV Challenge at the local pool. Photo credit PWSSC.

Mariculture ReCon

PWSSC staff are members of the Mariculture Research and Restoration Consortium (Mar ReCon), which focuses on sustainable mariculture development for restoration and economic benefit in the Exxon Valdez oil spill area. Mariculture ReCon farmers and principal investigators are working hard to get things ready for the upcoming harvest. We are pleased to share updates on the research being conducted.

Visit our website to learn more about the Mariculture Research and Restoration Consortium’s work.

Seawan Gehlbach, Simpson Bay Oysters, holding a CTD sensor. Photo credit Jessica Whitney.

Sierra Greene, UAF master's student, has set up sensor arrays at mariculture farms in Kodiak, Prince William Sound, and Kachemak Bay. These sensor arrays provide farmers with important information including temperature, salinity, turbidity, current, and photosynthetically active radiation (i.e. light) at their farms. Knowledge of how these oceanographic factors affect oyster and kelp growth will help farmers adjust how they manage their farms to ensure consumers are getting the greatest product possible.

Brenda Konar and Brian Ulaski, UAF, deploying imitation oyster cages. Photo credit UAF faculty.

Brenda Konar, UAF, and her postdoctoral fellow, Brian Ulaski, have been examining biofouling communities on oyster cages. Biofouling communities are made of small organisms that grow on substrates—in this case, kelp or oyster farm assets—that compete with what the farmer is actually trying to grow. Like mussel and barnacle growth on the hulls of boats, biofouling can be a tricky obstacle to overcome. Brenda and Brian’s goal is to understand how biofouling communities develop over time and their role in the environment to help address the challenges they bring to Alaska mariculture farms.

Copper River Nouveau 2024

Our annual benefit gala, Copper River Nouveau, is scheduled for June 8, 2024.

Senator Lisa Murkowski will be our honorary host for this fun-filled event celebrating regional resilience, science, education, community, and wild salmon.

We welcome individual and corporate sponsorships and auction donations. Dinner tickets cost $125 for current members and $150 for non-members. To purchase tickets or support our event, please contact Signe Baumann.

Community Events Calendar for April

We hope you can join us this month for some educational fun! Different programs are intended for specific ages, as noted below. Younger participants need to be accompanied by a caregiver. Everyone is welcome to attend. A current calendar of events can be found on our website. Subscribe here if you'd like to receive email notifications for upcoming community education programs.

April 2 (7-8 pm) Tuesday Night Talk: Who Owns Eyak Lake Weir?

Kate Morse, Copper River Watershed Project, and Euan-Angus, DOWL, will discuss Cordova’s Hottest Potato: Who Owns Eyak Lake Weir? Open to the public.

April 5 (2:30-3:30 pm) Fun Friday: Kelp'n Fun Learn the importance of kelp through games, crafts, and interactive demonstrations. The intended audience is kids in grades K-4 and their caregivers.

April 9 (7-8 pm) Tuesday Night Talk: Tsunamigenic Landslide Hazards

Lauren Schaefer and Dennis Staley, USGS, will discuss tsunamigenic landslide hazards in Prince William Sound. Open to the public.

April 12 (1:00-2:30 pm) After School Art

The Prince William Sound Science Center will collaborate with the Cordova Library for a fun-filled after-school art program. This event will take place in the library education room. The intended audience is kids in grades K-6.

April 14 (7-8 pm) Nature Yoga: Mariculture

Beat the "Sunday Scaries" with sunset yoga. Aviva will lead a mariculture-themed yoga class to discover what kelp can teach us about living a more centered life.

April 15 (5:30-6:30 pm) Sensory-Friendly Science Night

April is Neurodiversity Celebration Month! In partnership with NVE’s Tribal Family Services, we are hosting a sensory-friendly science event. Join us for some of our favorite science activities in a quiet, friendly space. This program is for children who experience disabilities, and their siblings.

April 16 (7-8 pm) Tuesday Night Talk: PWS Audubon Society

The Prince William Sound Audubon Society will present this evening's talk. Open to the public.

April 18 (7-8 pm) Earth & Crafts

Celebrate Earth Month with an evening of crafting to reduce microplastic. Each participant will receive complimentary supplies to make one beeswax food wrap and a t-shirt tote bag. The craft does not take an hour, so feel free to drop in anytime between 7 and 8 pm. Open to adults and children ten and older. We will have many fabric options for you, but you can bring your favorite fabric (we recommend cotton).

April 16 (7-8 pm) Tuesday Night Talk: The Great American Outdoors Act

Dave Zastrow of the US Forest Service will discuss the Great American Outdoors Act. Open to the public.

Education Month in Review: March

During Fun Friday, children watch two scientists at work in the lab from the window in the Science Center classroom. Photo credit PWSSC.

The Prince William Sound Science Center continues to offer free educational programs for people of all ages. Check out the events that were offered in March.

Sea Squirts Preschoolers activated all their senses by describing the sight, smell, texture, sound, and taste of popcorn! They also played a jellybean guessing game, made sounds on a water xylophone, created a smelly painting, and participated in a color scavenger hunt.

Fun Friday: Ocean Wonders Students learned what it is like to be an oceanographer through games, crafts, and interactive learning stations.

Spring Break Pajama Party We celebrated spring break with the local elementary students by hosting a movie night. Children came to the Science Center with their sleeping bags and pajamas and enjoyed watching a movie on the big screen while eating free popcorn courtesy of PWSSC.

Girl Scout Movie Night We hosted the local Girl Scout troop for an empowering movie night on the big screen—a film about an adventurous, brave, determined young woman who inspired the troop.

Tuesday Night Talks from March can be viewed on our YouTube channel.

Dr. Renato Silvano of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil, discussed Fisheries in Hot Waters.
Collin Bronson of the City of Cordova discussed the Cordova South Harbor Reconstruction Project.
Kristin Carpenter of Audubon discussed All Things Argentina.
Hank Statscewich of the University of Alaska Fairbanks gave an overview of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Underwater Glider Lab.

PWSSC educators continued to bring science into the classroom through Discovery Room.

Kindergarteners learned how rain is measured in a rain gauge and practiced fine motor skills by filling rain gauges with pipettes. For fun, we also made rain sticks!
First graders can now explain how light behaves when it moves through opaque, translucent, and transparent objects.
Second graders explored plant adaptations and planted their mint seeds.
Third grade visited the Science Center for a tour and dissected pretend bird stomachs made of Jell-O and candy.
Fourth grade started their geology unit. Using cookies as a metaphor, students discovered how rocks are made of minerals. They also participated in an erosion experiment with the stream table and analyzed fossils in sedimentary rocks.
Fifth graders continued their exploration of the carbon cycle through an experiment that demonstrated ocean acidification. Students mapped how ocean acidification can affect society, economy, well-being, and nature using their systems thinking skills.
The sixth grade class successfully completed the ROV Challenge.

The Prince William Sound Science Center is committed to resilient communities and healthy ecosystems. We need your help now more than ever. If you believe in our mission and care about what we do, please consider making a donation today.

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