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HELLO, CAMA'I,
After a hiatus, the CORaL Network is excited to bring back its monthly newsletter and share updates on the impactful work happening across the network. In this issue, you’ll notice a theme of interconnection as CORaL weaves together science, education, and Indigenous knowledge with local schools, communities, educators, and more. We hope you enjoy these stories of collaboration and community engagement happening throughout the region.
Connecting Ocean Science
with Local Schools
In September and October, the CORaL Network offered two separate immersive educational opportunities: one in Whittier for students in the Chugach School District and the other in Cordova for local junior and senior high school students. These programs, one organized by the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (CACS) and the other by Prince William Sound Science Center (PWSSC), demonstrate the power of cross-sector collaboration.
Ocean Science Week in Whittier, organized by CACS, introduced students to hands-on science, STEM, and cultural learning opportunities. The event opened its doors to all students in the Chugach School District, including students from Whittier Community School, Tatitlek Community School, Chenega Bay School, and FOCUS Homeschool. Over 85 kids attended, approximately half traveling from villages and other communities who stayed at the school in Whittier for the week.
As students came together from various schools, the partners leading the event did too. CACS, along with other CORaL Network partners, joined forces with Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Northern Gulf of Alaska Long Term Ecological Research to represent their work and contribute various activities and educational opportunities to engage the students.
In total, 22 different educators and scientists led activities for students throughout the week. CORaL Network partner PWSSC taught students about salmon life cycles, seabird diets, and oil spill response and prevention methods. Other organizations and scientists led activities ranging from building ROVS, collecting data with sea lion scat, learning about traditional Chugach transportation and building model boats, plankton labs, mariculture and kelp taste testing, water quality monitoring, ocean-focused art, and more.
CACS’s Program Director Katie Gavenus believes these activities and opportunities are important for students as residents in the Chugach region “so that they can be grounded in place, build their sense of self and community, and be informed in decision making. The Chugach region is a place where the ocean has shaped communities and ways of life for many, many, many generations. Highlighting this helps to instill a strong sense of identity for Sugpiaq students, and invites students who are not Sugpiaq to consider their role in this place.”
Less than a month later, on October 18th, PWSCC hosted its first annual Ocean Sciences Festival for Cordova’s junior and senior high school students. Like Ocean Sciences Week in neighboring Whittier, the festival featured a collaboration of ocean science, ocean industry, and place-based learning to increase understanding and awareness of ocean-related research and careers in the region. In total, 160 students from grades three through twelve participated in the day’s events.
"The Chugach region is a place where the ocean has shaped communities and ways of life for many, many, many generations. Highlighting this helps to instill a strong sense of identity for Sugpiaq students, and invites students who are not Sugpiaq to consider their role in this place.”
- Katie Gavenus, CACS Program Director
PWSSC staff worked with visiting researchers of the Gulf Watch Alaska Long Term Research and Monitoring Program to create engaging, hands-on activities that highlighted various research happening in the students’ home of Prince William Sound (PWS).
The students learned about aerial monitoring, plankton, salmon tagging, herring disease, fish stomach dissections, humpback whale tracking, seabird surveys, the kelp life cycle, and sea otter behavioral studies.
Local organizations represented their work in the region, including CORaL Network partners Alaska Sea Grant and Chugach Regional Resources Commission. Other participating organizations included the Native Village of Eyak, Cordova District Fishermen United, Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation, Copper River Watershed Project, U.S. Forest Service, Prince William Sound Economic Development District, Prince William Sound College, and U.S. Coast Guard.
Students learned about current research happening in PWS and about various ocean-related career paths in industries like fishing, military, aquaculture, and mariculture. PWSSC’s Education Specialist Cristina Reo says, “Eventually, these students will grow up and become lawyers, fishermen, researchers, or decision-makers in the community. It is important for them to have a strong understanding of what is happening in the ocean, why we are studying it, and how we are taking that information collected to make management decisions to better inform their actions and decisions moving forward, no matter what field they end up in.”
Immersive educational opportunities like Ocean Science Week and Ocean Sciences Festival grow students’ awareness, expand their curiosity, and help them begin building relationships with scientists and educators throughout the region. Through events like these, the CORaL Network hopes students walk away with a greater sense of connection to their local ocean and beach ecosystems and watersheds. It aims to inspire students to explore their curiosity of science, culture, and community and to engage with the various research projects happening in their homes.
The impact of these educational programs is long-lasting. When Katie with CACS returned to Whittier a month after Ocean Science Week to lead follow-up activities at the elementary school, one of the students said, “I really like it when you come and do fun things with us!” Later, when using a refractometer to measure salinity, another student volunteered to demonstrate the steps based on what they had learned during Ocean Science Week.
This impact isn’t only felt by students but also by the participating organizations and scientists. During the Ocean Sciences Festival in Cordova, a researcher studying herring diseases with the United States Geological Survey excitedly approached Cristina with PWSSC. He wanted to share his wonderful interaction with a high school student who asked detailed questions and seemed so engaged and interested in the herring disease program that he felt she could have been one of his PhD students.
Cristina smiled and said, “Maybe one day she will be your PhD student!”
IN OTHER NEWS
Educators Connect at
Annual Teachers Workshop
The Annual Teachers Workshop, hosted in partnership with the National Park Service at the Alaska SeaLife Center in October, brought together 32 K-12 educators from Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, and the Matsu Valley School Districts to explore the theme Together at the Table: Bringing Indigenous Knowledge, Science, and Stewardship of Our Food Web into the Classroom.
Throughout the event, teachers immersed themselves in hands-on learning with experts, elders, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) holders.
Seward representatives from Chugach Regional Resources Commission (CRRC) and Chugachmiut offered key perspectives, enriching discussions with their knowledge and experiences. Cultural demonstrations by the Native Youth Olympics team and others added depth, blending tradition with education.
The workshop wasn’t just about lessons—it was a space for teachers to share meals, stories, and ideas, fostering vibrant discussions and collaborative learning. Participants left feeling inspired and equipped to bring these new perspectives into their classrooms, enriching student understanding of food webs, cultural wisdom, and environmental stewardship.
The workshop wasn’t just about lessons—it was a space for teachers to share meals, stories, and ideas, fostering vibrant discussions and collaborative learning.
CORaL Network Holds Annual Meeting
In early October, the CORaL Network convened for their annual meeting in Cordova. Fifteen network partners, joined by two skilled facilitators, gathered at the Prince William Sound Science Center’s (PWSSC) new facility for three days of collaboration and strategic discussions.
The meeting addressed a series of meaningful and candid discussions, led with the help of the facilitators, that were designed to refine the foundation of the CORaL Network. Partners approached these discussions with openness, honesty, and courage, underscoring the Network’s commitment to building relationships rooted in trust, cultural sensitivity, and shared goals for collective impact across the region.
In addition to these foundational dialogues, partners presented at the EVOSTC’s Public Advisory Meeting, brainstormed improvements for key initiatives such as the Community Coastal Experience (CCE), and even shared a memorable dip in the chilly waters of Prince William Sound, right across from PWSSC’s new facility.
Mural Complete at CRRC's Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute
The mural at the Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute, designed by local artists Marissa Beck and Luzan Quintero, has been officially completed with the addition of painted tiles on the outside of the mural. The tiles were painted by Seward students and community members during the 2023 Seward Science Symposium, planned by Stewards of the Bay and supported by the NOAA Ocean Exploration Team.
The mural is an outcome of community engagement and science communication facilitated by the CORaL partners in Seward, demonstrating how CORaL can connect local partners and supporting organizations to create meaningful connections between science, culture, and art.
UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES
Collective Alaska Native Perspectives
February 11-13, 2025
Cordova, AK
As part of the CORaL Network, Chugach Regional Resources Commission developed the Collective Alaska Native Perspectives (CANP) series to build an understanding of Alaska Natives' true history, legal complexities, diverse cultural practices, and the way of life from the perspective of Alaska Native People.
In this multi-day event, participants will explore opportunities to learn from other cultures and share experiences through panel participation with Alaska Native Elders and an all-Native Mentor panel.
Stewards of the Bay Community Connections Series
November 20, 6-7 p.m.
Gateway Hotel, Seward, AK
Join Seward science organizations for a free night of Ocean Trivia at the Gateway Hotel’s event space in Seward.
Stewards of the Bay’s Community Connections Series is a monthly discussion that brings together research, science, and culture to spark conversations in the Seward-area community. All are welcome!
Contact natalies@alaskasealifecenter.org with any questions or to be added to the mailing list for future Stewards of the Bay events.
Coastal Connections Camp
Camp-in-a-Box Summer Youth Programming Opportunity for Your Community
Could the youth in your community benefit from a quality summer programming opportunity? Alaska Sea Grant (ASG) has a solution: Coastal Connections Camp, a week-long, camp-in-a-box program. ASG, with funding from the EVOSTC and CORaL Network, is seeking members in various communities to help lead the camps.
Coastal Connections Camp includes outdoor exploration, hands-on science, art, team building, and personal resilience skills. It integrates a Whole Being Teaching concept that meets the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical needs of middle school youth. It also emphasizes students’ connections to place, self, and peers all while building science, critical thinking, confidence, and personal resilience skills.
This will be the third summer that ASG has offered the camps in collaboration with the Ocean and Science Learning Center from the National Park Service and the Kenai Mountain Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area.
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
This project was funded by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.