Knowledge Warding Against Toxin Levels

The Knowledge Warding Against Toxin Levels Center for Oceans and Human Health is a multi-site, transdisciplinary consortium led by Sitka Tribe of Alaska and involves Tribal Organizations, university, and non-academic partners to characterize paralytic shellfish poisoning risks and related issues in the Gulf of Alaska as the region undergoes rapid environmental change.

Changing Oceans Affect Shellfish Toxins

Toxins produced by harmful algal blooms (HABs) off the coast of Alaska can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning and pose a significant threat to human health; therefore, a major concern for coastal Alaskan communities is how changing climate conditions will affect the safety of subsistence shellfish harvest. This project leverages long term monitoring data, in situ environmental measurements, remote sensing products, and traditional ecological knowledge to generate machine learning and mixed effects harmonic models predicting shellfish toxin levels. It also uses in vivo experimentation to examine the effects of changing ocean conditions on toxin accumulation and maximum toxicity in subsistence shellfish species. This project creates an important linkage between empirical models of HABs and shellfish toxicity and climate adaptation planning, creating outputs of future HAB dynamics which are actionable and will be shared with tribal partners and communities.

Toxicity of Saxitoxin Congener Mixtures in Shellfish from Southeast Alaska

The objective of this project is to compare different methods to estimate the toxicity of saxitoxins in shellfish. Specifically, this project compares predictions of shellfish saxitoxin-related toxicity using a bioassay (RBA) measuring total toxicity with estimates based on measurement of individual saxitoxin congeners plus Toxic Equivalency Factors (TEF) from FAO/WHO, tests whether saxitoxin congeners adequately predict RBA using the TEF model; and improve TEF estimates by regressing RBA against saxitoxin congener concentrations using new mixtures methods.

Living and Eating in Intertidal Nature: Community-driven Shellfish Consumption Evaluation

This project aims to evaluate community shellfish harvesting and consumption patterns and risk perceptions around paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) to develop community-specific risk profiles. The research team is conducting in-depth interviews of community members involved in subsistence shellfish harvesting along the Gulf of Alaska, employing a population survey to assess prevalence of lifetime PSP, and developing a probabilistic health risk model based on shellfish consumption distributions to better inform communities about risk profiles for subsistence harvesting.

Community Engagement Core

The Community Engagement Core is run by the Kodiak Area Native Association and conducts community outreach through public participation and assessment, educational programming, and workforce development in marine sciences. These education, outreach, and evaluative activities ensure that the Center's work, driven by Alaska Native Tribes, has meaningful and lasting impacts.