Inupiat whaler joins North Pacific board

ALASKA NEWSPAPERS STAFF

December 27, 2007 at 11:09AM AKST

An Inupiaq whale hunter originally from Barrow, Steve MacLean of Anchorage, has been appointed to the North Pacific Research Board by Gov. Sarah Palin.

Reappointed were Dorothy Childers, Gerry Merrigan, Pam Pope and Denis Wiesenburg.

The board is responsible for managing a comprehensive science program relating to the fisheries and marine ecosystems in the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans and Bering Sea.

It funds research, promotes scientific collaboration and supports enhanced public understanding of those ecosystems and fisheries.

Its 11 members are drawn from federal and state management and research agencies, including five appointed by Alaska's governor, to serve three-year terms.

MacLean, an Inupiaq subsistence whale hunter, crews a whaling boat in Barrow. He has served on the board's advisory committee and its local and traditional knowledge committee.

MacLean earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Whitman College and a master's degree in wildlife and fisheries science from Texas A&M University. He was appointed to an advisory seat representing the interests of Alaska Natives.

Childers, of Anchorage, is program director and former executive director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, which advocates for marine and coastal conservation in Alaska. She is a representative on the Alaska Sea Grant Public Advisory Group and a director of the Marine Fish Conservation Network.

Childers has advocated for sustainable fishing by protecting habitat and minimizing bycatch. She recently won a three-year, $150,000 fellowship from the Pew Institute for Ocean Science to study climate change in the Bering Sea. Childers holds a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York-Empire State. She has served on the board since 2005 and was reappointed to a seat representing environmental organizations.

Merrigan, of Petersburg, works in government affairs for Prowler Fisheries of Petersburg. A commercial salmon troller and halibut fisherman since 1984, he is currently a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

He has previously served on the Pacific Salmon Commission, Northern Panel, and was director of the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association. Merrigan has also worked as a forestry technician, boat carpenter and state fisheries biologist. He has a bachelor's degree in science from Rollins College and a master's degree in forestry from Duke University. Merrigan was appointed to a seat representing the fishing interests.

Pope, of Anchorage, is a project health, safety and environmental manager with BP Alaska Exploration and has held a variety of health, safety and environmental support and management positions with the company, including environmental policy analyst, scientist and engineer.

She has worked for BP for 26 years, including more than 20 years of experience supporting onshore and offshore oil exploration and production in Alaska, including managing North Slope environmental research projects, and writing oil spill and pollution control plans. She has served on numerous state and international organizations relating to the oil industry's environmental protection efforts.

Pope earned a bachelor's degree in zoology from California State University-Long Beach and a master's degree in environmental quality science and engineering from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She has served on the board since 2001 and was reappointed to a seat representing oil and gas interests.

Wiesenburg, of Fairbanks, is dean of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His extensive career in research and academia includes work as professor and chair of marine sciences at the University of Southern Mississippi; associate director of the geochemical and environmental research group at Texas A&M University; and oceanographer with the Naval Ocean Research and Development Activity at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

He has been heavily involved in fisheries and oceanography issues and research, with his numerous published articles addressing issues including water composition and quality.

Wiesenburg holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Duke University, a master's degree in oceanography from Old Dominion University and a doctorate in oceanography from Texas A&M University. He has served on the board since 2005 and was reappointed to a seat representing academia.

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