To celebrate the start of a new school year, we welcome guest blogger, Siena Farr, to Currents and Connections. Siena is a senior attending Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé in Juneau, Alaska. During the spring of 2025, she participated in a marine science education and scientific storytelling internship at Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Auke Bay Laboratories. The internship was part of NOAA’s national Education and Outreach efforts, which aim to increase public engagement with science, support the development of a future science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce, and promote environmental stewardship. Siena's experience focused on designing and conducting her own independent research project. With guidance from the education and outreach team, she explored the full research process, from developing her questions to collecting data and communicating her findings in accessible ways. In addition to her research, Siena contributed to public engagement by helping with STEM nights at local elementary schools and participating in Alaska Sea Week events. Read on to learn more about Siena’s internship experience with NOAA Fisheries and what she discovered through hands-on research and science communication.
Hi! My name is Siena. I am a high school senior at Juneau Douglas High School. I have been an avid explorer of the outdoors in Juneau, Alaska for as long as I’ve lived here. I’ve always been passionate about conservation and climate sciences, so when an opportunity came up to intern with NOAA Fisheries, I jumped at the chance! This was an amazing opportunity to become involved with the scientific community in Juneau and learn more about careers in marine science and education.
Making Connections to My Own Backyard
I first became interested in science and the outdoors in elementary school. As Spring rolled around each year my excitement built. I knew my favorite day was coming–Beach Day! This was a day when all the elementary school classes in Juneau would head to the beach to explore the beautiful and some-what alien intertidal environment. It was this NOAA-sponsored event that sparked curiosity for science in my young mind.
My favorite location of all our Beach Day field trips was Shaman Island, a land mass only connected to the shoreline of Douglas Island at low-tide. I knew conducting a project on the intertidal species I loved so much would be a perfect capstone to not just my NOAA internship, but also my school years in Juneau. By interning with NOAA Fisheries, I had the opportunity to explore the intertidal zone and expand my knowledge of the critters of my youth. I also was excited to work with young kids during Sea Week and Beach Days, hoping to spark the same interest in science that NOAA inspired in me years ago. Now I just had to come up with a question and design a research project.
Inspiration through Observation
Inspiration came to me as I walked to the local elementary school for a NOAA science night. I just couldn't bear to look up into the mountains. Not only was there no snow on the ground but the snowline, marked by white trees, seemed already to be creeping up the mountains. This was an incredibly odd February in Southeast Alaska. As I helped elementary school students with a craft activity, I wondered if the high snowline was affecting the real-life counterparts to the fish we were drawing. That’s when I came up with the overarching question for my capstone project: Is there a relationship between the snowpack and the biodiversity of the intertidal zone?
A Quick Lesson in Snow Hydrology
Snowpack is the accumulation of snow in mountainous regions and plays a crucial role in regulating water quality. As temperatures rise in the spring, the snowpack begins to melt. The melted water, known as snowmelt, flows into rivers and lakes, replenishing water supplies. A reduced snowpack means less snow to melt, leading to an earlier and potentially faster initial melt period. This can result in shorter, more intense runoff events compared to years with abundant snowpack and a more gradual melt.
Despite reduced total volume, a rapid initial snowmelt from a low snowpack can cause fine sediment particles, including glacial silt and other eroded materials, to be carried downstream with the meltwater flow. The concentration of these suspended particles directly affects turbidity, or the cloudiness of the water. The greater the concentration of sediment, the greater the cloudiness or turbidity.
An increase in turbidity can lead to decreased light penetration making photosynthesis challenging for primary producers. Fine sediment particles also can clog and damage the gills of fish and filter-feeders such as clams and mussels. Chronic exposure to high turbidity can stress organisms, weakening their immune systems and making them more susceptible to disease and infection. This led me to hypothesise that the turbidity would be higher than normal this year leading to a decreased species richness (number of different species found in a specific area). I also considered the possibility that the increase in turbidity will impact certain species more than others leading to a decrease in species evenness (the relative abundance of each species in a specific area).
Getting Started
To prepare for my field work, I joined several professionals from NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and the University of Alaska Southeast for a tidepooling session at a local beach. It was an amazing opportunity to ask questions and soak up some of their knowledge of the creatures that inhabit the area.
The intertidal zone is one of the toughest places for wildlife to exist in. It boasts species from almost all the kingdoms of life. The constant change between being under water and out of water means these species have unique adaptations and intriguing appearances. I accompanied students, professors, and scientists as they turned over rocks, flipped drift wood, and inspected large boulders, hoping to spot some of the most interesting wildlife on the planet.
Marine Biodiversity Survey Project
During March to July, 2025, a team of interns and I conducted six marine biodiversity surveys during the low tide of each month. At the start of each survey, we laid out a 30 meter long transect tape parallel to the shoreline on Shaman Island. We randomly sampled an average of 15 locations along the transect using 0.25 x 0.25 meter quadrats. A quadrat is a frame, typically square, used in ecological studies to define a specific area for sampling and counting organisms. We meticulously counted each marine species (both plants and animals) in each quadrat. By counting the amount and types of marine wildlife, I was able to paint a picture of the marine biodiversity of the research site.
I also collected water temperature and turbidity data during three of the six surveys from June to July. My hope was to see how the limited snow pack might impact water temperature and turbidity, and in-turn, affect wildlife diversity and abundance in my study area.
Results
The diversity of species along the shoreline of Shaman Island varied month to month. I observed the fewest number of different species during April and the greatest number of different species during July. Barnacles were by far the most abundant species throughout my study, although each biodiversity survey revealed different levels of species. For example we noticed many more false white sea cucumbers in July compared to any other month. The results I found followed a pattern that was similar to previous studies where the greatest number of species were found in the summer and least number of species were found in the winter.
Water temperature and turbidity also varied month to month. Water temperatures ranged from 8°C to 12°C with the lowest temperature occurring during March and the highest temperature occurring during July. Most likely, temperature fluctuations resulted from warming air temperatures and increased solar radiation as spring gave way to summer. Turbidity ranged from 0 JTU to 100 JTU. The greater the value, the more cloudy the water. I observed the highest turbidity during the summer months but that was likely due to the wave action when the data was recorded.
As I started diving into my preliminary results, I realized I would need a lot more time, samples, and detailed environmental data to draw any significant conclusions. Ideally, I would continue conducting surveys, collecting water samples, and analyzing snowpack levels over a number of years to establish a baseline. Although that would be a very fun project to tackle, my time as a NOAA intern has ended for this year, so it’s up to the next generation to take on some of my unanswered questions.
Looking Ahead
My internship with NOAA taught me that scientific research isn’t always clear cut and there are always more questions to ask. My next steps are to continue exploring new opportunities to make a positive impact. This year I am the co-president of my high school’s Alaska Youth for Environmental Action club. Our goal this year is to plant native plants in between the school and the harbor to prevent pollution and nutrient run-off. I am excited to continue my education efforts studying science and habitat conservation in Juneau with the next generation of youth scientists.
