US Coast Guard cadets, Cecelia Hosley (right) and Lindsey Critser (left). (Photo provided by Sitka Sound Science Center)

Two undergraduate students from the US Coast Guard Academy, Lindsey Critser and Cecelia Hosley, are in Sitka for a 6-week science internship this summer. They are replicating a shellfish survey for the Sitka Tribe out at Starrigavan, gathering data for subsistence harvesters. The two cadets will be presenting their findings at the Sitka Public Library, Wednesday at 6pm.

Critser and Hosley along with Sitka Sound Science Center Research Biologist, Lauren Bell talk about their research, upcoming presentation and what brought them to Sitka.

Downloadable audio.

The internship has been around for three years, and is a partnership between the Sitka Sound Science Center and the US Coast Guard Academy. It gives cadets the opportunity to take ownership of a short-term research project that will have a meaningful impact on other ongoing research initiatives in the area.

“What they have done, in the short time that they have been here, is really develop something that is going to be used on into the future,” Lauren Bell said.