College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
Department of Marine Biology
University of Alaska Fairbanks
2150 Koyukuk Drive, 245 O’Neill Building
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7220

Tel: 907-474-5930
Office: Irving II 230, Lab: O’Neill 141
UAF web: https://uaf.edu/cfos/people/faculty/detail/kristen-gorman.php
Pronouns: she/her

I respectfully acknowledge Alaska’s First Peoples and their long history of
living in deep connection with their land and water, and the historical and
ongoing legacy of colonialism. As a life-long student, I am committed to
learning about injustice, and working to improve equity in my professional
and personal life.

Research Overview

Research in the Gorman Lab (established 2022) lies at the intersection of evolution, ecology, and physiology, thus we take integrative approaches to understanding factors that shape animal behavior (foraging, breeding, toxicology/disease, and movements), fitness (including associated life history traits and trade-offs), and population dynamics (demographic rates and population structure) to advance basic knowledge and inform management and conservation actions. The overarching goal of the lab is to develop molecule to ecosystem perspectives focusing on the integrative evolutionary ecology of animal systems, some of which are critically important for commercial fisheries and subsistence harvests. Together as a lab group, we incorporate modern, quantitative methods in our work, while honing our communication skills to train the next generation of conservation ecologists. The lab also aims to enhance the public’s interest in nature and understanding of the scientific process. We are always looking for new collaborators and students to join our program in Marine Biology at CFOS/UAF, please reach out to Kristen Gorman if you have interest in our work - a few recent papers are noted below. Thanks for stopping by!

Hasan, E.L., K.B. Gorman, H.A. Colletti, B.H. Konar. 2024. Species distribution modeling of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) in a data-limited ecosystem. Ecology and Evolution 14:e11118. Open access here: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11118

Porter, D.E., J.M. Morris, M. Trifari, M.J. Wooller, P.A.H. Westley, K.B. Gorman, T.A.Radenbaugh, and B.D. Barst. 2023. Acute toxicity of copper to three species of Pacific salmon juveniles in water with low hardness and low dissolved organic carbon. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 42(11):2440-2452.

Iken, K., C.D. Amsler, K.B. Gorman, A.G. Klein, A.W.E. Galloway, M.O. Amsler, S. Heiser, R. Whippo, A.T. Lowe, J.G. Schram, Z.X. Schneider, J.B. McClintock. 2023. Macroalgal input into the coastal food web along a gradient of seasonal sea ice cover along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Marine Ecology Progress Series 718:1-22.

Funded Graduate and Undergraduate Student Opportunities

Spring 2024: We are recruiting a post-doctoral fellow to join a synthesis working group focused on evaluating Copper River Sockeye management approaches, see advertisement here. If you have interest in this project, please reach out by email to Kristen Gorman.

Spring 2024: We are recruiting a MS graduate student to join an ongoing project focused on seabird movements and marine spatial planning at St. Paul Island, Alaska in collaboration with the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government’s Ecosystem Conservation Office. If you have interest in this project, please reach out by email to Kristen Gorman.

Lab Group Members

Abby Host
Abby joined the lab in Fall 2023 as MS student in the Marine Biology program. Abby earned a BS degree in Biology with a minor in Environmental Studies from Boston College in 2021. She is an avid outdoors woman and athlete with interests in high latitude fisheries ecology. Abby’s thesis work is focused on understanding relationships between pathogen diversity and loads and body condition of returning Sockeye Salmon to the Copper River, Alaska. Abby’s research is supported by a Teaching Assistantship during AY23-24, and a grant from the National Park Service, Examine health metrics of Copper River sockeye stocks to inform management decision making. Abby’s graduate committee includes Kristen Gorman, project collaborator Dr. Pete Rand (Prince William Sound Science Center), and Dr. Lara Horstmann (Dept Chair, UAF Marine Biology).

Alex Borsky
Alex joined the lab in Spring 2024 as MS student in the Marine Biology program. Alex earned a BS degree in Marine Science with a concentration in Marine Biology and a minor in Fisheries from University of Maine in 2013. Alex is an avid hiker having completed all three of North America’s famous through hikes - the Applachian Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail. Alex is currently refining the focus of his thesis work, but he will be assisting Kristen Gorman, Dr. Pete Rand, and Dr. Ron Heintz (Sitka Sound Science Center) on a project funded by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, Ecological interactions between Pacific herring and Pacific salmon in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Prior to joining CFOS as a grad student, Alex worked as a field assistant with UAF’s Beaufort Sea Long-Term Nearshore Fish Monitoring Program, as a fisheries observer aboard commercial trawlers off the Oregon and Washington coasts, and as a contract biologist on a NOAA research project in the Columbia River estuary using passive integrated transponder (PIT) technologies to evaluate survival and timing of outmigrating juvenile salmon through the federal hydropower system.

© Copyright 2021, Kristen B. Gorman, PhD
Website last updated 20 March 2024