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Impacts of Sea Otter Expansion on Southeast Alaska's Dungeness Crab Population 

• Ginny Eckert

Carter grew up in Bellingham, WA before moving to Seattle where he earned a degree in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences/Biology from the University of Washington. As an undergraduate, Carter worked as a field technician in the Laidre Lab studying the ecology of sea otters on the outer Washington coast. After graduating, Carter worked in an environmental chemistry lab in Seattle before joining the Eckert Lab at UAF in 2021. In his free time Carter enjoys hiking, SCUBA diving, and underwater photography.

As Southeast Alaska's sea otter population has expanded following their reintroduction in the 1960s, concerns have emerged around potential conflict with invertebrate fisheries. Despite sea otters' negative impacts on other invertebrate populations, Southeast Alaska's commercial Dungeness crab fishery has remained resilient. My dissertation aims to understand the unique ecological conditions that have allowed for a robust Dungeness crab fishery to coexist with a large sea otter population.

• AAUS Scientific Diving Certification (2022)
• PADI Advanced Open Water 2019

• NPRB GSRA 2023
• 2021 NSF Graduate Â鶹¹ÙÍø Fellowship Program