NPRB 2016 Photography Contest /  by Michael Johns

The North Pacific Research Board (NPRB) consists of a group of advisory panels aimed at identifying and supporting research geared towards fisheries management and ecosystem health in Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean. They offer competitive graduate student awards of up to $25,000 for projects related to issues in these areas. NPRB also puts out an annual calendar showcasing photographs of field work and wildlife from marine environments throughout Alaska and Russia. Although I didn't receive the cash prize, my photo of a tufted puffin from St. Paul Island did made the honorable mention list. Visit www.nprb.org/nprb/annual-photo-contest/ to see the winning entries. 

Pacific Seabird Group /  by Michael Johns

This past February, I presented some preliminary results of my thesis work at the 43rd annual Pacific Seabird Group meeting on Oahu, Hawaii. I ran a series of logistic regression models in R to test the probability of second brooding in Cassin's auklets against a set of environmental and biological variables. I found that increased June upwelling strength, older female parents, and early lay dates best explained the variation in double brooding rates on Southeast Farallon Island. The poster I presented took home first place in the graduate student paper category.