Rachel Lekanoff
She/her
Ph.D. Student
Fisheries
Anchorage, Alaska
907-891-3573 (work cell)
rmlekanoff@alaska.edu
M.S. Oceanography
2020
Western Washington University
B.S. Environmental Science
2016
I am a PhD student pursuing a Fisheries degree. Currently, I work as the Fisheries Manager for the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska, where we co-manage local subsistence sockeye salmon fisheries with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game. Prior to working for the Qawalangin Tribe, I worked at the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, where I coordinated projects on air quality, environmental remediation, and other co-stewardship projects on behalf of the 13 Unangax tribes.
I am investigating the use of eDNA as a tool to measure salmon abundance in rural Alaska, especially the Aleutians. I will use salmon counts generated by an enumeration weir operated by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game and the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska, and compare count data with salmon abundance derived from eDNA sampling.
- Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska