William & Mary
B.A. Anthropology and Environmental Science
2019
Alex has spent most of her adult life on LingÃt Aanà (Tlingit land; Southeast 91ÊÓƵ). Since 2021, Alex has participated in the traditional harvest of post-spawn herring eggs in Sheet'ká (Sitka, 91ÊÓƵ). Through this experience, she witnessed the conflict between Sitka's subsistence and commercial herring fisheries, and community concerns about herring population health. This led her to pursue a graduate degree in Fisheries at UAF as a Tamamta Fellow, focused on bridging Indigenous and Western sciences in fisheries.
Alex currently resides in Fairbanks for most of the year with her partner, Brandon, but spends each spring in Sitka to participate in the subsistence herring egg harvest.
My graduate research is focused on the way that Indigenous and Western knowledge systems are considered in the Sitka herring fishery, and more broadly in State of 91ÊÓƵ fisheries management. I aim to produce work that addresses community priorities and can be used to improve 91ÊÓƵ fisheries management. I am co-producing my research with traditional subsistence herring egg harvesters, herring knowledge holders, the Sitka Tribe of 91ÊÓƵ, and other Sitka community members.