51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø

Rachel Lekanoff earned her MS in Oceanography at 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø and her BS in Environmental Science at Western Washington University. She is now a graduate student at 51·çÁ÷¹ÙÍø CFOS (again!) as a Tamamta fellow pursuing a PhD in Fisheries. In addition to school, she works for the Northern Latitudes Partnerships’ Aleutian Bering Sea Initiative as their Research Coordinator. Through both school and her job, she works closely with Tribal communities on climate resilience, mariculture, and co-production research projects.

Outside of work and school, Rachel is an avid cyclist and cross-country skier and is frequently on the incredible trail networks in and around Anchorage. She lives with her partner, Craig, and their three cats.

I am investigating the use of eDNA as a tool to measure salmon abundance in rural Alaska, especially the Aleutians. I will use salmon counts generated by an enumeration weir operated by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game and the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska, and compare count data with salmon abundance derived from eDNA sampling.

• Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska
• Northern Latitudes Partnerships - Aleutian Bering Sea Initiative