Olav
Ormseth
NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center
olav.ormseth@noaa.gov

I’m a fishery biologist with the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, based at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. I do stock assessments for skates, squids, and forage fishes in Alaska, as well as a variety of related research.

It’s taken me awhile to get here. I started out with a BA in biology from Bates College, then proceeded to an MS in wildlife biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). After a number of years studying moose and river otters, and commercial salmon fishing in Bristol Bay, I found myself back in graduate school at UAF. I got my PhD in Fisheries Oceanography in 2007 and subsequently joined NMFS.

The best thing about fisheries biology is that we work on so many levels: any particular issue may involve anything from fish physiology to cultural anthropology. I was a bit dubious at first about taking on a big project like this one, but I’m very glad that I did. It’s been tremendously interesting so far and I can’t wait to see what we find! 

Olav is leading the Understanding the Structure of Forage Fish Communities aspect of the Gulf of Alaska Project.  He serves on the Gulf of Alaska Board of Investigators (GABI) and is currently the Chair of that group.