Field Studies
Each fall, the University of Alaska Anchorage's Kachemak Bay Campus of Kenai Peninsula College located in Homer, Alaska, offers students from around the country the opportunity for an academic hands-on learning experience studying biological sciences with easy access to cold-water marine habitats. A selection of upper division biology courses are offered along with others with an Alaskan theme. The semester has been designed to meet the needs of students majoring in the natural sciences in a creative and adventurous way.

Our Amazing Bay
Kachemak Bay is one of the richest marine estuaries in the world. Charismatic species such as sea otters, killer and humpback whales, bald eagles, puffins, jellies, halibut, and salmon utilize the waters and coastal environments of Kachemak Bay. Students are immersed with these and other species, such as beluga whales, during hands-on labs and field trips conducted throughout the semester here in Kachemak Bay and the surrounding waters of Cook Inlet.  Check out the live webcam of the bay.

About Our Town
Homer, Alaska is an area alive with opportunities for diverse outdoor adventures and is home to a vibrant art community. Homer is one of the top small art and cultural towns in the U.S. and a recreational and maritime center of Alaska. Located on the shores of Kachemak Bay, Homer offers breathtaking views of glaciers, mountains and wildlife. With an area population of 14,000.  Homer is 225 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula and the shores of Kachemak Bay.

About Our Campus
University of Alaska Anchorage's Kachemak Bay Campus of Kenai Peninsula College is located on 3 acres in the coastal community of Homer, Alaska on the shores of Kachemak Bay, overlooking a vista of glacier-capped mountains. The campus offers a wide variety of degree and continuing education courses and programs of excellence in a friendly, personalized setting.

Community-Based Internship and Volunteer Opportunities
Various State, Federal & non-profit organizations in the Homer area offer internship and volunteer opportunities and may include students enrolled at KBC for the fall semester. Participation in an internship or volunteer activity sponsored by another organization is optional.  You will need to submit a 1-2 page cover letter outlining your interest, any relevant experience, and future goals, as well as notify Dr. Tobin, KBC Associate Professor of Biology, dtobin@uaa.alaska.edu by mid-March.  It is recommended that you apply to more than one agency.  *Note: this list will change as internships are filled and new ones become available.*  Past sites included:

United States Fish & Wildlife Service: http://www.fws.gov/alaska/nwr/akmar/

1.  Sea Otter Stranding Intern I – respond to dead and live sea otter stranding events: salvage and collect data from carcasses; support rescue and protection of live animals; conduct beach surveys to assess mortality rates of otters through strandings; requires 20 hours/week with free government bunkhouse housing provided.
2. Sea Otter Stranding Intern II – same as above but requires 10 hours/week with reduced housing benefit: depends on agency needs and student availability; this internship may be expanded to 20 hours a week and include housing.

Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (CACS): http://www.akcoastalstudies.org/coastal-monitoring.html

1.  Marine Debris Interns – work 10 hours/week in a variety of contexts associated with marine debris/coastal clean-ups including educational outreach, marine debris art compilations, data entry, among others; includes housing at a significantly reduced rate.
2. Environmental Educator Intern – work 10 hours/week in a variety of environmental, ecological education outreach capacities; includes housing at a significantly reduced rate.

Eye of the Whale

1. Cetacean data entry/catalogue ID interns - work 10 hours/week assisting area scientists with data cleanup and entry, sorting and matching of humpback whale photographs from South-central Alaska for re-structuring current whale identification catalogs; may also require Excel data entry; 2-4 positions available.

NOAA/University of Alaska Natural Heritage Program, Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve: http://nerrs.noaa.gov/doc/pdf/reserve/kba_siteprofile.pdf

1. Sea Otter Diet Interns – Work 10-20 hours/week assisting area scientists with long-term foraging ecology studies by cleaning, sorting and analyzing sea otter scat; aid in the determination of prey preference and contribute to reference manuals.
2. Juvenile Salmon Stream and Estuary Rearing Studies– work with KBRR and visiting researchers on a variety of projects investigating juvenile salmon rearing habitats in the estuary and stream environments. Internships include lots of field work, as well as some lab work.

NOAA Kasitsna Bay Laboratory: located on the south side of Kachemak Bay, with an office in Homer. KBL is part of the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science of NOAA's National Ocean Service (http://coastascience.noaa.gov/about/centers/ccfhr) and is operated in partnership with the University of Alaska Fairbanks (http://legacy.sfos.uaf.edu/kbay/, https://www.sfos.uaf.edu/sites/kbay/).

1. Oceanography: Work 10 hours/week assisting NOAA scientists with oceanographic data analysis and visualization. Knowledge of Matlab and/or R software is helpful, but not required. Opportunity to participate in boat-based field work for oceanographic surveys (several day trips and one multi-day trip will take place during the semester). Note: Weekly time commitment can vary through the semester, depending on student schedule.

Cook Inletkeeper:
Note: These are volunteer opportunities

1. Policy Analysis: Intern will work with staff to identify and develop a topic for research and analysis on issues involving pollution, habitat protection, and/or climate change.
2. Field Assitant: Support scientific staff in field research geared toward understanding effects of rising temperatures on wild salmon systems.

More Information
Visit http://www.semesterbythebay.org/ for more information.
E-mail kbcinfo@kpc.alaska.edu for program inquiries.
Contact the IPO at 605-274-5050 or ipo@augie.edu for general questions.