The Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is seeking interested people to fill member vacancies on the reserve’s Community Council, with appointments slated to start this spring.

KBNERR is a non-regulatory, federal-state-community partnership that focuses on environmental research and education programs for the benefit of the greater Kachemak Bay community. The University of Alaska Anchorage Alaska Center for Conservation Science serves as the reserve’s state sponsor, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the federal agency that administers the National Estuarine Research Reserve system.

According to a Feb. 12 press release, the primary purpose of the KBNERR Community Council is to support the reserve’s research, education and training programs by providing an organized structure for dialogue and recommendations between reserve staff and people in the community. The council meets on a quarterly basis either at the KBNERR headquarters or at Kachemak Bay Campus, and serves as an advisory body to the Reserve’s programs.

The council consists of nine to 13 voting members who “embody a broad base of interests,” including education, research, various communities around and outside of Kachemak Bay, commercial and sport fishing, recreation and tourism, local businesses, conservation groups, Native Alaskans, oil spill management and response, industry/business, subsistence/personal use, local governments, collaboration and citizens at large. Members will “encompass more than one perspective and/or interest,” the release states.

The community council application can be found online at kachemakbayreserve.org/about/kachemak-bay-research-reserve-community-council/. Interested applicants should submit their completed application, references and resume by email to kschake@alaska.edu.

Following the receipt of applications, appointments are recommended by the council nomination committee and reviewed and approved by the full Community Council. Council members appointments will be finalized by the state sponsor, ACCS. In addition to voting members, non-voting representatives from “pertinent” state and federal agencies also sit on the council.

The Community Council will hold their next quarterly meeting on Friday, March 7 from 12:30-3 p.m. at KBC’s Pioneer Hall. Prior, an open house will be held at KBNERR headquarters on Kachemak Drive on Thursday, March 6 from 2-6 p.m.

For questions, contact reserve manager Katherine Schake at 907-235-4799 or kschake@alaska.edu. Find more information on the KBNERR website.