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Videos now available! Science Night 2025

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Science Night 2025 – Echoes from the Spill: Science that Shaped a Region

On the evening of Thursday, December 4, 2025, we explored the past, present, and future of science in the Exxon Valdez oil spill region with speakers Jeff Short, Beks Rumley, and Gary Shigenaka.

Thank you to our partner organizations who hosted watch parties! Kodiak at the Seafood and Marine Science Center, Valdez at the Prince William Sound College, and Cordova at the Prince William Sound Science Center.

Presentations

The Scientific Legacy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

  • Speaker: Jeffrey W. Short, PhD, JWS Consulting LLC
  • The Exxon Valdez was the first intensively-studied oil spill in history. Damage assessment studies discovered far more environmental damage than expected. Dr. Short will discuss the unique scientific opportunity and studies prompted by the spill followed by a brief comparison with science conducted after the Deepwater Horizon.

Coastal Resilience through Tribal Stewardship: Science, Sovereignty and Community Voice

  • Speaker: Beks Rumley, Climate Change Coordinator, Chugach Regional Resources Commission
  • This presentation shares how tribally led consortium Chugach Regional Resources Commission (CRRC) integrates traditional knowledge with western science to address climate change impacts across the Chugach region. We will cover CRRC’s work with ocean monitoring, subsistence species research, tribal conservation efforts, and adaptation planning. The biggest takeaway? Resilience grows when communities lead the research that affects them.

Exxon Valdez: A Look Back and Some Thoughts about the Path Ahead

  • Speaker: Gary Shigenaka, Biologist (Retired!)/Emeritus Scientist, NOAA/Emergency Response Division
  • The Exxon Valdez led to important scientific and institutional changes that continue to shape the spill response community today. This talk will explore the early science after the spill and the creation of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 as a lens to examine what has happened since, present status, and an outlook for the future.

Visit our Science Night main page for details on past events.

European green crab spreading in southeast Alaska

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Image shows that green crab can be identified by counting the bumps on the front of the carapace.: 5 pointy spines on left, then an eye, followed by three bumps in the center, then another eye, and 5 more spines on the right.
European green crab, Carcinus maenus

In 2022, the Metlakatla Indian Community first spotted shells of European green crab, or Carcinus maenus, during regular monitoring at the Annette Islands Reserve. Subsequent monitoring turned up live crabs.

This summer, the group reported a large population growth in the surrounding area.

Monitors reported trapping 2,133 in 2023, and 1,865 in 2024. That number jumped to over 40,000 this year.

This species is of particular concern because it is aggressive. It has destroyed habitats and outcompeted local species in other locations. Among its prey are juvenile king crab and juvenile salmon.

The Council has been studying these crab and other marine invasive species since 1996. Research on has shown that:

  • The crab survives in environments like Prince William Sound. A warming climate makes an even more suitable habitat.
  • Larvae of the crabs could survive a trip to Alaska in an oil tanker’s ballast water.

Links to additional resources, and what to do if you see a suspected green crab: www.pwsrcac.org/greencrab

What today’s oil tells us about tomorrow’s spill response

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Fishing vessels pull oil spill boom.

The Council has released a new analysis of Alaska North Slope crude oil. Every few years, the Prince William Sound tanker operators share a sample from the trans-Alaska pipeline with the Council. The sample is tested to determine the current mix of substances that make up the oil.

Why does Alaska North Slope crude oil differ over time?

The oil that runs through the trans-Alaska pipeline comes from a mixture of oil fields across the North Slope. Over the years, new pockets of oil have been discovered, while production in some older fields has declined. This leads to changes in the oil moving through the pipeline.

What are the differences?

Crude oils are generally categorized by weight: heavy, medium, or light. Heavy oils have mostly larger hydrocarbon molecules. In lighter oils, the molecules are smaller, having been further broken down by exposure to hotter temperatures and higher pressures in the earth’s crust.

Light oil is less dense, meaning a given volume weighs less than heavier oils, and less viscous, meaning it flows easily. Heavy oil is denser and more viscous. Medium weight oils contain a mix of heavier and lighter molecules.

At the refinery, these light and heavy components are separated so they can be used for different purposes. The lighter ends are made into products such as jet fuel and gasoline, while the heavier ends are used to pave roads and coat pipes, among other uses.

Alaska North Slope oil has been trending lighter since around 2010. Its properties are consistent with a medium weight oil.

Why do these differences matter to oil spill response?

Knowing the composition of oil tells emergency responders how the oil might behave if spilled. Responders can create better contingency plans and choose more appropriate cleanup techniques.

Lighter weight oils are easier to recover and clean up, and they tend to evaporate more readily. Heavier oils move slower, so they may not penetrate soils as quickly, but they are harder to skim and pump during cleanup.

What do the current oil properties tell us?

After receiving the recent sample, the Council had it analyzed by a laboratory and worked with Dr. Merv Fingas, a spill response subject matter expert, to interpret the data. In the report just released, Dr. Fingas identified changes in the oil properties and described what those changes might mean for oil spill responders.

Dr. Fingas concluded that the oil is relatively similar to the last sample he analyzed for the Council. However, he noted a few differences.

Less prone to emulsify: Dr. Fingas found that the current composition is less prone to form stable emulsions than older samples. An emulsion forms when droplets of one liquid are dispersed into another liquid. When oil is spilt into seawater, wind and waves churn the two liquids together. Usually, oil and water separate, however sometimes the mixture stabilizes and forms “mousse,” so named because it resembles chocolate mousse dessert. Mousse is difficult to recover and can greatly increase the volume of oil to clean up.

Less dispersible as the oil weathers: When fresh oil is spilled, it begins to change almost immediately. Lighter compounds start to evaporate when exposed to air and water, leaving behind the heavier components. Dr. Fingas notes that the current crude mix is less dispersible after weathering than previous samples.

Flows more readily: Dr. Fingas’ report also says that since the recent sample is lighter, it is less viscous. This means that the oil would be easier to collect and pump, however it would spread farther and faster than oil of the past.

More details in Dr. Fingas’ report: Review of the 2024 Alaska North Slope Oil Properties Relevant to Environmental Assessment and Prediction

Council co-hosts community workshop with local partners

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Since 1999, the Chugach Regional Resources Commission, or CRRC, has been hosting the Annual Subsistence Memorial Gathering. This event, held near the anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, honors the resilience and adaptation of the people of the Chugach region after the disaster.

This year, the Council partnered with CRRC and Alaska Sea Grant to host a workshop during the Gathering to share with community members about current environmental and social science research in the Chugach region. An important goal was to hear ideas from community members about current and future project needs based on their experiences and local knowledge. In addition to the co-hosts, researchers from Alaska Pacific University, Seldovia Village Tribe, Fjord & Fish Sciences, Prince William Sound Science Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Kodiak Area Native Association, CRRC, and Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve shared brief updates about their work. During morning and afternoon sessions, participants gathered in roundtable discussions. They were encouraged to consider how the research presented could be integrated into communities; what environmental or social science was needed in communities; ways to promote better community well-being through resilience and adaptation; and to share stories of change in the region.

Lessons from listening

Graphic with a quote from a scientist that attended The Gathering: "“Scientists need to be reminded (including me) to make their presentations understandable for the non-scientist.”One of the Council’s goals was to learn about research needs from community members. Discussion questions were designed to encourage stories about changes in their local environment. The Council hopes to be able to develop future projects in collaboration with communities based on this feedback and knowledge sharing.

A variety of key themes and lessons emerged from the conversations.

Communities encourage research that directly addresses local needs. People want to know more about what is happening in their environment and why. Many attendees told stories of how shifting seasons and climate change are affecting harvests of land and marine plants and animals. The variety of species available for harvest is also declining in some areas. Locally important species such as clams, herring, and salmon were of particular interest, and people also wanted to know how the health of plankton populations affects the rest of the food web.

Communication is key. Researchers tend to talk about their work in technical language and present their work in complicated spreadsheets filled with specialized data. These are not easy for non-scientists to understand or apply to their lives. The conversations during the workshop showed that people were interested in the research and wanted to know how to learn about these projects. Plain language and visual graphics can help improve communication.

Local knowledge holds important insight. Two-way communication also benefits researchers. People living in coastal communities notice changes before anyone else. They are the first to notice poor fishing, changes in harvestable species, and other factors that directly affect coastal communities and local ways of living. Listening to communities’ questions and observations can help shape the development and execution of research projects.

Keep showing up. Consistency is important in building relationships. Community members stressed the value of researchers returning to share project results and engaging youth in outreach and education as projects unfold.

More details in the report

The full report contains many more details, including ideas for projects and additional suggestions for building relationships with communities: 23rd Annual Subsistence Memorial Gathering Workshop

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