Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America
September 23, 2000 - Issue 19

Opportunities

Detailed information on the Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) program
for research at the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve in Homer, Alaska,
described below, is available on the web page at:
http://www.ocrm.nos.noaa.gov/nerr/fellow.html or contact:

Dr. Carl Schoch
Science Coordinator
Kachemak Bay Research Reserve
202 W. Pioneer Ave., Suite AW
Homer, AK 99603
907/235-4799
carl_schoch@fishgame.state.ak.us

APPLICATION DEADLINE IS:
1 November 2000.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The Kachemak Bay Research Reserve in Homer Alaska is soliciting proposals, through the NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS), for the annual Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) program. Grants are available on a competitive basis to students admitted to or enrolled in a full-time masters or doctoral program at U.S. accredited colleges and universities. Fellowships may be funded for up to three years to support thesis or dissertation research within Kachemak Bay.

SITE DESCRIPTION
Kachemak Bay is the first major embayment on the east side of Cook Inlet adjacent to the Gulf of Alaska. A unique feature of the bay is a four-mile long depositional spit emanating from the north shore separating the bay into at least two circulation cells. Nutrient rich waters from the Gulf of Alaska stream into the bay and are thought to enhance productivity. Strong gradients in salinity, turbidity, temperature, and nutrients exist between the inner and outer circulation
cells.

FACILITIES
The town of Homer lies at the base of the spit on the north shore of Kachemak Bay. The local economy is driven primarily by the tourist industry and charter boat fisheries. The reserve headquarters building is located on a bluff overlooking the bay. The headquarters building has limited office facilities for visiting researchers and graduate students. The reserve has a small lab in Homer suitable for any projects not requiring running seawater. The reserve also has access to the Kasitsna Bay wet lab facility and dive locker run by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This lab is located near the town of Seldovia on the south shore of the bay. The reserve has two skiffs available on a limited basis. The 22' research skiff is outfitted with a small davit and winch for oceanographic sampling. The reserve is participating in the NERRS water quality monitoring program with instrumented arrays collecting time series data at several locations throughout the bay.

SCIENTIFIC AREAS OF SUPPORT
The national NERRS program has identified the following as areas of nationally significant research interest:

  • The effects of non-point source pollution on estuarine ecosystems;
  • Evaluative criteria and/or methods for estuarine ecosystem restoration;
  • The importance of biodiversity and effects of invasive species on estuarine ecosystems;
  • Mechanisms for sustaining resources within estuarine ecosystems; and/or
  • Socioeconomic research applicable to estuarine ecosystem management.

Kachemak Bay is unique in that this subarctic marine ecosystem is not currently encumbered by significant pollution, although increasing levels of real estate development in Homer and commercial/recreational fishing pressures undoubtedly have affected the ecosystem.

The Kachemak Bay Research Reserve has identified issues of local concern that fall within the following general topics:

  • BIODIVERSITY: We are currently engaged in several mapping and monitoring projects to track changes in intertidal and subtidal biological communities. We are particularly interested in kelp bed and intertidal communities, including invertebrates, algae, fishes, and marine mammal populations and population interactions. Studies of community and population dynamics are encouraged.
  • FORCING MECHANISMS: We are interested in the biological and physical forcing mechanisms driving the spatial and temporal patterns of populations and communities.
  • NUTRIENT FLUXES: We are interested in the patterns of primary productivity and nutrient uptake rates in the bay.
  • CIRCULATION AND MIXING PATTERNS: We are interested in having numerical models developed to aid our understanding of the marine and estuarine fluid dynamics in the bay.
  • OTHERS (NOT INCLUSIVE): Anadromous organisms, bacteria, benthic-pelagic coupling, benthos, biodiversity, biogeochemical cycles, chemical processes, climate change, interannual/interdecadal variation and global change, continental shelf processes, ecotoxicology and endocrine disrupters, estuarine and near-shore processes, fishes, harmful algal blooms, land-water margins, macrophytes/kelp beds, marine mammals, mesopelagic ecosystems, microbial dynamics, modeling approaches, molecular biology, nutrient dynamics, optics, organic carbon dynamics, paleooceanography, physical processes, phytoplankton, primary production, remote sensing and technological tools, secondary production, sediment-water interactions, streams, trophic dynamics, ultraviolet radiation, watersheds, zooplankton.

Applicants are responsible for contacting the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve to determine if their proposed projects are relevant to the Reserve's site-specific research needs. Please contact:

Dr. Carl Schoch
Science Coordinator
Kachemak Bay Research Reserve
202 W. Pioneer Ave., Suite AW
Homer, AK 99603
907/235-4799
carl_schoch@fishgame.state.ak.us

The award amount is $16,500 per year that may be used for research, tuition, and other expenses. The application deadline is 1 November 2000.

Please see the web page: http://www.ocrm.nos.noaa.gov/nerr/fellow.html for details on the application process.

Fifth Annual ARCUS Award for Arctic Research Excellence competition

In keeping with its mission to promote arctic research and education, the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) proudly announces the Fifth Annual ARCUS Award for Arctic Research Excellence competition. The student competition will be judged in four broad categories: Social Sciences, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Interdisciplinary Sciences, with up to four awards given. The papers may address any research topic related to the Arctic and may be either published or unpublished. An entry form must accompany each paper.

The review panel will include top arctic researchers from various fields. The winners of this "award for excellence" will have the added experience of presenting their work to a broad-based audience during the Arctic Forum, a seminar on significant arctic research, sponsored during the Spring 2001, ARCUS 13th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. Abstracts of the winning student papers will be published on the ARCUS Web site as well.

The contestants must be registered as an undergraduate or graduate student within one year of 8 December 2000 and must be the primary or sole author of the paper and a major contributor to the research. The papers may address any research topic related to the Arctic. An entry form must accompany each paper. Students need to notify ARCUS of their intent to submit a paper by 10 November 2000 via email to alison@arcus.org and submit their papers to ARCUS by 8 December 2000.

We encourage you to spread the word about the Fifth Annual ARCUS Award competition to students who may be interested in this opportunity to gain national recognition, present their research at a significant assembly on arctic research, and receive a $500 cash award. More information about the competition, including the winners of last year's award and a downloadable copy of the flyer and entry form, can be found at http://www.arcus.org/award/fr_index.html.

Sincerely,

Wendy K. Warnick
Executive Director

Job Description: Managing Attorney (TCRP Austin office)
Great opportunity to do civil rights work with poor people in Texas.

Primary Duties: Supervise legal program, including litigating cases; conduct discovery, including written discovery and depositions; handle settlement negotiations, mediations, motions, court hearings, trials and all other aspects of civil litigation; assist in
supervision of law clerks; conduct weekly legal meetings to advise staff of status of cases and consult regarding intake of cases; participate and consult in hiring and supervision of staff.

Qualifications: Licensed attorney. Legal experience. Salary $31,000-$37,000/year, depending on experience, etc., plus medical and retirement. Casual work environment.

Résumé and letter to:

Jim Harrington, Texas Civil Rights Project,
2212 E. Martin Luther King Blvd, Austin, TX 78702.
www.igc.org/tcrp


Job Description: South Texas Project Legal Director (San Juan)

Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do civil rights work with poor people in Texas’ “Third World,” near McAllen, along Mexico border.

Primary Duties: Supervise legal program, including litigating cases. Maintain quality controls. Review and refer cases. Conduct some fundraising (soliciting grants from foundations and corporations). Supervise South Texas Project staff (paralegal and office manager). Fiscal, budgetary and legal responsibilities. Coordinate public relations (press conferences, public speaking, etc.). Serve as liaison to board of directors, and organize quarterly board meetings.

Qualifications: Licensed attorney. Legal experience. Ability to speak Spanish helpful. Willingness to work in less-than-optimum conditions as part of farm worker movement. $33,000-$35,000/year, plus medical and retirement.

Résumé and letter to:

Jim Harrington, Texas Civil Rights Project,
2212 E. Martin Luther King Blvd, Austin, TX 78702.

www.igc.org/tcrp

"Coming Together' Sharing our Research, Practice and Indigenous Knowledge".
Notice of an International Conference taking place in Winnipeg
October 18 to 21, 2000.
This conference brings together speakers from across North America to address the following themes:

  • Strengthening Aboriginal languages and identities through education
  • Elders as Educators/Culture-based curriculum and teaching practices
  • Strengthening the relationships between schools and the community.

Please go to
http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/metks4/abedu/ned/sharing.html
for more information and/or to register on line.


 

 

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