The Arthropods of Kasatochi

The More You Look

For more than ten years, UA Museum of the North Curator of Entomology, Derek Sikes has traveled to the remote Aleutian volcano, Kasatochi, in order to help study how plant and animal succession reboots, how species are returning to the island after the supposed slate-cleaning of the 2008 eruption. Dr. Sikes discusses this ongoing project in light of successional ecology, Darwin and the heterotrophs first hypothesis, and the daunting work ahead required to fully catalog Alaska's arthropod biodiversity.

The More You Look is a production of the UA Museum of the North, on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the ancestral lands of the Dena people of the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.