Our
Projects

In partnership with SEANET, the Chilkat Indian Village (Klukwan) is leading a groundbreaking project to map critical and previously unrecognized sockeye salmon populations in the Jilkáat Aani Ká Héeni (Chilkat River watershed). By combining traditional ecological knowledge with advanced isotopic methods—specifically Sr87/Sr86 isotope analysis of salmon otoliths—this initiative will create a high-resolution strontium isoscape of the watershed. SEANET’s support helps bridge cutting-edge science with community-based conservation, empowering Indigenous stewardship, enhancing fisheries management, and informing adaptive strategies in the face of climate change and watershed development threats.

In partnership with SEANET, the RIPPLE initiative aims to transform fisheries conservation and ecological research by developing an open-access global river isoscape modeling platform. By integrating strontium isotope data, machine learning, and high-resolution stream network models, RIPPLE enables scientists, fisheries managers, and Indigenous communities to track fish migration, assess habitat use, and model ecological resilience under changing environmental conditions. This SEANET-aligned project promotes accessible, data-driven solutions to pressing ecological challenges, bridging advanced isotope science with community-driven management and conservation strategies across aquatic ecosystems from Alaska to the Great Lakes and beyond.

In partnership with SEANET, this project conducts a decadal-scale investigation of sockeye salmon habitat use and production dynamics in the Taku River Basin—one of the Gulf of Alaska’s most ecologically and culturally significant salmon watersheds. By applying high-resolution strontium isotope analysis to a unique 40-year archive of otolith samples, the project will reveal spatial and temporal patterns of natal origin, life history variation, and responses to environmental pressures such as climate change. Aligned with SEANET’s mission to support actionable science and long-term ecological insight, this work not only improves fisheries management tools but also advances Indigenous-led stewardship through collaboration with the Tlingit First Nation and regional stakeholders.

In partnership with SEANET, this project pioneers a spatially explicit approach to detect and quantify river evaporation across the Mississippi River Basin—one of the world’s largest and most hydrologically complex watersheds. By integrating stable isotope geochemistry (δ²H and δ¹⁸O) with cutting-edge spatial stream network models, the research identifies where, when, and how much evaporation occurs across the river corridor. The project addresses a major gap in hydrologic science by revealing that river evaporation—traditionally overlooked—can constitute a significant component of the water budget, particularly under climate stress. As part of SEANET’s commitment to innovative, actionable science, this work will inform adaptive water resource management strategies for climate-resilient river basins across the globe.

In partnership with SEANET, this project investigates the deep-time dynamics of trade, exchange, and human mobility across the vast and arid Kalahari Basin in southern Africa. By applying strontium isotope analysis (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) to archaeological materials—such as ostrich eggshell beads, ceramics, and human and faunal remains—the research aims to reconstruct prehistoric trade routes and population movements spanning the last 20,000 years. The project will generate one of the first basin-wide isotopic isoscapes for the region, illuminating how people connected across ecological and cultural boundaries in this challenging landscape. In alignment with SEANET’s mission, this research bridges environmental science with archaeological knowledge to understand how humans have historically adapted, exchanged, and thrived under shifting climatic and social conditions.