Chirikof Squirrels featured in media

OU, BU and Smithsonian researchers investigate ancient species in Gulf of Alaska

Courtney Hofman, professor in the Department of Anthropology, OU College of Arts and Sciences, collaborated with Catherine West, professor in the Department of Archaeology, Boston University, to find that the current population of squirrels has been on Chirikof Island longer than previously assumed. Hofman and West used archaeological squirrel remains recovered from middens to directly radiocarbon date the squirrels; to look for evidence of prehistoric human use of squirrels; and to perform ancient DNA analysis of the dated squirrel remains.  Read entire article here.

Published December 15, 2016

SCBI Researchers Use Ancient DNA to Prove Arctic Ground Squirrel May Not Be an Invasive Species

The study, “Integrating archaeology and ancient DNA to address invasive species colonization in the Gulf of Alaska,” published in Conservation Biology, was carried out by Catherine West, Courtney Hofman, Steve Ebbert, John Martin, Sabrina Shirazi, Samantha Dunning and Jesus Maldonado. Their work, done in-part at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation Genomics, could have major implications on the conservation and management of the species, as well as native habitat.  Read entire article here.

Catherine West is a research assistant professor at Boston University and has been coming to do archaeology in the Kodiak area since the early 2000s. She says this project is the first one she’s directed, and she received a grant from National Geographic to study the historic presence of the animal on Chirikof.  Read entire article here.