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Weekly Highlights for 08-19-2009

I. Departmental/Bureau News

A. Upcoming Events

No Upcoming Events highlights for this week

B. Current

USGS Briefs Deputy Secretary of the Interior on Climate Change Research
On August 18, USGS Alaska Science Center staff briefed Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes, NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen, White House Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley, and Deputy Assistant to the President on Energy and Climate Change Heather Zichal on current and proposed USGS climate change research. Topics included polar bear, walrus, volcano, and glacier research. Deputy Secretary Hayes and others, members of the Obama Administration's Interagency Task Force on Ocean Policy, were in Alaska the week of August 17 to tour villages and receive briefings on climate change, and to conduct a public listening session in Anchorage.
Contact: Carl Markon Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7023

Assessment of Bear Activity in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Using Noninvasive Procedures
USGS released Open-file Report 2009-1169 entitled "Black and Brown Bear Activity at Selected Coastal Sites in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska: A Preliminary Assessment Using Noninvasive Procedures". Coastal sites in Glacier Bay are known to be used by both black and brown bears, and park managers were interested in assessing bear activity, especially at sites heavily used by park visitors, notably kayakers. Using a suite of noninvasive techniques, including remote cameras, bear sign mapping, scat collections, and genetic analysis of bear hair, the authors were able to provide qualitative assessments of bear use of key sites. The report is available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2009/1169/.
Contact: Karen Oakley Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7076

New Field Effort to Collect Seismic Data to Image Submarine Landslides
USGS Alaska Science Center staff are collecting high-resolution seismic data from beneath Port Valdez to better understand submarine landslides that have occurred there. The bottom of the entire fjord was resurfaced by submarine landslides during the 1964 magnitude 9.2 earthquake. These submarine landslides also generated tsunamis that led to the loss of about 22 lives during the 1964 earthquake. The new work is aiming to image submarine landslide deposits beneath the 1964 deposit, which may have been triggered by previous megathrust earthquakes.
Contact: Peter Haeussler Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7447

Task Force on Ocean Policy Listening Session
USGS Alaska Science Center staff will be assisting with the Obama Administration's Interagency Task Force on Ocean Policy public listening session on Friday, August 21 in Anchorage. The Task Force is charged with developing a recommendation for a national policy that ensures protection, maintenance, and restoration of oceans, our coasts and the Great Lakes. It will also recommend a framework for improved stewardship, and effective coastal and marine spatial planning. This is the first of five scheduled listening sessions across the country.
Contact: Durelle Smith Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7104

USGS Glacier Photos to Be Used in German Museum Exhibit
USGS Alaska Science Center glaciologist Rod March provided photographs of the 2002 Hubbard Glacier dam of Russell Fjord and subsequent outburst flood to the University of Greifswald, Germany for an exhibition at the Museum for Prehistory in Berlin.
Contact: Rod March Fairbanks, AK, (907) 479-5645 x241

II. Press Inquiries/Media

On August 14, USGS Alaska Science Center biologist Tony DeGange spoke to Greenwire regarding current research on Kasatochi Volcano.
Contact: Anthony (Tony) DeGange Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7046

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