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I am a new postdoc at the International Arctic Research center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Currently, I am funded through the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Initiative. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is genetic material shed by organisms in their natural environment. It is possible to use eDNA to detect species of interest in ecosystems. I use environmental DNA techniques to both (1) study the declining salmon runs that have caused severe hardship in subsistence communities within the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim (AYK) region and (2) quantify clam abundance that has been a hardship to the intertribal Chugach Regional Resources Commission and scientists at the Alutiiq Pride Marine Research Institute. I will use a previously published quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay to detect salmon. I plan to develop an assay for clam eRNA.

The detection of eDNA, using qPCR, needs to be statistically validated. I will fit statistical models to predict daily salmon passage using eDNA concentrations. The outcomes of the research aim to inform tribal members of salmon abundance in the Kuskokwim River Basin. For quantification of eRNA, experiments will be run at the Alutiiq Pride Marine Research Institute to quantify and differentiate between larvae, juveniles and adults.

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As a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology, I work extensively with Indigenous groups in Alaska and Chukotka, Russia. My research focuses on sociocultural characteristics, traditional ecological knowledge and the traditional subsistence of the Chukotkan coastal communities. I advocate for the benefits of shared Indigenous knowledge and observation. 

For many years, I was a Chuktotkan Indigenous leader. As the executive secretary of the Chuktotka Traditional Marine Mammal Hunting Association, I lobbied for more subsistence quotas, while developing relationships with other leaders and organizations. When I realized that I needed additional training, I chose UAF because the university is located in the Arctic, explores the Arctic, and has many professors and fellow students who have dedicated their lives to Alaska and the Bering Strait region with a sincere respect for its Indigenous communities.

I’ve been involved in joint Alaska-Chukotka research projects involving traditional ecological knowledge as a partner and principal investigator for over 15 years. Since traditional subsistence is a crucial factor for the cultural and food survival of the Chukotka Indigenous people, my priority is to support biological and anthropological research. My fellow researchers and I explore contemporary sociocultural patterns in remote Indigenous communities. An essential part of our research identifies the cultural and nutritional needs of villagers. Adequate models based on many years of meticulously collected data help to protect the rights of the Bering Strait region’s Indigenous peoples to traditional livelihoods and ways of life.

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Megan Behnke was born and raised here in Lingít Aaní. She first joined UAS as a stream chemistry technician in 2016 with the Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center, and returned in 2022 to serve as postdoctoral fellow through the Coastal Rainforest Margins Research Network and the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center. In between she received her MS and PhD from Florida State University, studying what happens when warming temperatures release organic carbon that has been locked away in permafrost, glaciers, and wetland soils in both coastal temperate rainforests and around the pan-Arctic with the Arctic Great Rivers Observatory. Megan uses a combination of ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry and elemental and isotopic ratios to explore how the sources, processing, and fates of organic matter are changing due to climate change and associated shifts in land use and land cover.

Megan's current research interests include understanding how cryospheric warming (i.e. glacial melt and permafrost thaw) is changing the type and delivery of organic matter to streams and to the nearshore environment and the role human actions (such as fossil fuel burning) have on organic matter cycling. She is also interested in understanding the role of trees in delivering dissolved organic matter to forest floors, stream systems, and the nearshore environment. In addition to research, Megan spends her time paddling, skiing, climbing, gardening, reading (particularly science fiction) and bushwhacking around the forest trying to find her dog.

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