Marnie Chapman, M.A., M.S.

I’m originally from Northern California and lived in Bethel and Skagway before moving to Sitka in 1992. I enjoy helping students build a firm foundation in the topic that will serve them well in their careers. I am active in the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS).  As part of HAPS I helped develop standards for undergraduate human anatomy and physiology courses taught in the US and Canada. I am committed to quality eLearning opportunities and developed and delivered the first distance science courses offered by UAS. As Sitka’s lab director I currently help oversee the lab support portion of UAS Sitka Distance Science courses which have grown to involve multiple faculty members and currently serve over 200 students each semester.  I believe it is important to give back to my community by doing what I can to enrich science literacy, assist in community-based scientific research, and help create science-related opportunities for everyone, especially K-12 students.

Community Projects

• Served as an invited researcher for Scientist in the Schools programs at elementary, middle, and high school levels.
• Helped establish science clubs at the local elementary and middle school that give kids a chance to interact with scientists and collect data for meaningful research projects.
• Found opportunities for K-12 students to meet and work with scientists from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, UCSF, UAF and Project Budburst.
• Assisted with marine invertebrate identification for community BioBlitzes and provided intertidal ecology expertise for many community organizations.
• Involved in a project to revisit historical work done in Sitka by Ed (Doc) Ricketts and link it to modern intertidal survey protocols.

I am particularly interested in the ecology and functional anatomy of intertidal organisms, especially with respect to predator-prey relationships.  I am also very involved in marine invasive issues and research, particularly with respect to invasive tunicates. I am a member of the Alaska Marine Invasive Species subcommittee and the Didemnum vexillum Rapid Response Team.