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Steven C. Amstrup

Title: Research Wildlife Biologist
Address: 4210 University Dr., Anchorage, AK 99508-4626
Phone: (907) 786-7111
Fax: (907) 786-7401
Email: samstrup@usgs.gov
Curriculum Vitae

Image of Steven C. Amstrup

Education and/or Training

Ph.D.1995University of Alaska Fairbanks, AKWildlife Management
M.S.1975University of Idaho, Moscow, IDWildlife Management
B.S.1972University of Washington, Seattle, WAForestry

Areas of Specialization and/or Research Interests

Population dynamics of large mammals; predator-prey interactions and foraging ecology; community ecology in the pack-ice and near shore arctic environment; using scientific management principals to maintain the maximum diversity and abundance of wildlife that is consistent with the necessities of human existence.

Professional Experience

1997 - PresentResearch Wildlife Biologist, USGS, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
1994 - 1997Research Wildlife Biologist, National Biological Service, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
1980 - 1994Research Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Fish & Wildlife Research Center, Anchorage, Alaska
1976 - 1980Research Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Denver Wildlife Research Center, Denver, Colorado
1975 - 1976Regional Wildlife Biologist, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Price, Utah
1974 - 1975Wildlife Assistant, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Department Council, Idaho

Professional Activities and/or Memberships

Certified Wildlife Biologist, and member, The Wildlife Society
Life Member, American Society of Mammalogists
Life Member, Arctic Institute of North America
Member, Marine Mammal Society.
Member, International Bear Biology Association

Significant Recent Publications

Complete list of S. Amstrup's publications

Amstrup, S.C., B.G. Marcot, and D.C. Douglas. (In Press). A Bayesian network modeling approach to forecasting the 21st century world-wide status of polar bears. In, Arctic sea ice decline: Observations, Projections, Mechanisms, and Implications. American Geophysical Union Book Series.

Durner, G.M, D.C. Douglas, R.M. Nielson, S.C. Amstrup, T.L. McDonald, I. Stirling, M. Mauritzen, E.W. Born, Ø. Wiig, E. DeWeaver, M.C. Serreze, S.E. Belikov, M.M. Holland, J. Maslanik, J. Aars, D.A. Baily, and A.E. Derocher. (In Press). Predicting the future distribution of polar bear habitat in the polar basin from resource selection functions applied to 21st century general circulation model projections of sea ice. Ecological Monographs.

Amstrup, S. C., B. G. Marcot, and D. C. Douglas. 2007. Forecasting the Range-wide Status of Polar Bears at Selected Times in the 21st Century. U. S. Geological Survey Administrative Report, 131 pp.

Bergen, S., G. M. Durner, D. C. Douglas, and S. C. Amstrup. 2007. Predicting Movements of Female Polar Bears Between Summer Sea Ice Foraging Habitats and Terrestrial Denning Habitats of Alaska in the 21st Century: Proposed Methodology and Pilot Assessment. U. S. Geological Survey Administrative Report, 24 pp.

Durner, G. M., D. C. Douglas, R. M. Nielson, S. C. Amstrup, and T. L. McDonald. 2007. Predicting the Future Distribution of Polar Bear Habitat in the Polar Basin from Resource Selection Functions Applied to 21st Century General Circulation Model Projections of Sea Ice. U. S. Geological Survey Administrative Report, 61 pp.

Hunter, C. M., H. Caswell, M. C. Runge, E. V. Regehr, S. C. Amstrup, and I. Stirling. 2007. Polar Bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea II: Demography and Population Growth in Relation to Sea Ice Conditions. U. S. Geological Survey Administrative Report, 51 pp.

Regehr, E. V., C. M. Hunter, H. Caswell, S. C. Amstrup, and I. Stirling. 2007. Polar Bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea I: Survival and Breeding in Relation to Sea Ice Conditions, 2001-2006. U. S. Geological Survey Administrative Report, 50 pp.

Rode, K. D., S. C. Amstrup, and E. V. Regehr. 2007. Polar Bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea III: Stature, Mass, and Cub Recruitment in Relationship to Time and Sea Ice Extent Between 1982 and 2006. U. S. Geological Survey Administrative Report, 31 pp.

Regehr, E. V., N. J. Lunn, S. C. Amstrup, and I. Stirling. 2007. Effects of earlier sea ice breakup on survival and population size of polar bears in western Hudson Bay. Journal of Wildlife Management 71(8):2673-2683.

Fischbach, A. S., S. C. Amstrup, and D. C. Douglas. 2007. Landward and eastward shift of Alaskan polar bear denning associated with recent sea ice changes. Polar Biology 30(11):1395-1405.

Amstrup, S. C., I. Stirling, T. S. Smith, C. Perham, and G. W. Thiemann. 2006. Recent observations of intraspecific predation and cannibalism among polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea. Polar Biology 29(11):997-1002.

Durner, G. M., S. C. Amstrup, and K. J. Ambrosius. 2006. Polar bear maternal den habitat in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Arctic 59(1):31-36.

Amstrup, S. C., T. L. McDonald, and B. F. J. Manly (eds.). 2005. Handbook of Capture-Recapture Analysis. Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey, 296 pp.

Amstrup, S. C., G. M. Durner, I. Stirling, and T. L. McDonald. 2005. Allocating harvests among polar bear stocks in the Beaufort Sea. Arctic 58(3):247-259.

Amstrup, S. C., T. L. McDonald, and G. M. Durner. 2004. Using satellite radiotelemetry data to delineate and manage wildlife populations. Wildlife Society Bulletin 32(3):661-679.

Kern, J. W., T. L. McDonald, S. C. Amstrup, G. M. Durner, and W. P. Erickson. 2003. Using the bootstrap and fast Fourier transform to estimate confidence intervals of 2-D kernel densities. Environmental Ecology and Statistics 10(4):405-418.

Amstrup, S. C. 2003. Polar bear, Ursus maritimus. Pages 587-610 in G. A. Feldhamer, B. C. Thompson, and J. A. Chapman (eds.), Wild Mammals of North America: Biology, Management, and Conservation. Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, Maryland.

McDonald, T. L., and S. C. Amstrup. 2001. Estimation of population size using open capture-recapture models. Journal of Agricultural Biological and Environmental Statistics 6(2):206-220.

Durner, G. M., S. C. Amstrup, and K. J. Ambrosius. 2001. Remote identification of polar bear maternal den habitat in northern Alaska. Arctic 54(2):115-121.

Amstrup, S. C., G. M. Durner, T. L. McDonald , D. M. Mulcahy, and G. W. Garner. 2001. Comparing movement patterns of satellite-tagged male and female polar bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 79(12):2147-2158.

Amstrup, S. C., T. L. McDonald, and I. Stirling. 2001. Polar bears in the Beaufort Sea: A 30-year mark-recapture case history. Journal of Agricultural Biological and Environmental Statistics 6(2):221-234.

Amstrup, S. C., G. M. Durner, I. Stirling, N. J. Lunn, and F. Messier. 2000. Movements and distribution of polar bears in the Beaufort Sea. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78(6):948-966.

Amstrup, S. C., and G. M. Durner. 1995. Survival rates of radio-collared female polar bears and their dependent young. Canadian Journal of Zoology 73(7):1312-1322.

Amstrup, S. C., and C. L. Gardner. 1994. Polar bear maternity denning in the Beaufort Sea. Journal of Wildlife Management 58(1):1-10.

Amstrup, S. C. 1993. Human disturbances of denning polar bears in Alaska. Arctic 46(3):246-250.

Amstrup, S. C., I. Stirling, and J. W. Lentfer. 1986. Past and present status of polar bears in Alaska. Wildlife Society Bulletin 14(3):241-254.

Websites of Interest

Mapping of high probability maternal denning habitats of polar bears
Population ecology of polar bears in western Alaska and adjacent portions of Russia
Detection of denning polar bears with forward-looking infrared (FLIR) imagery
Oil Spill polar bear interaction modeling
Marine mammal tissue archive project
Population status and trends in polar bears and Pacific walrus in western Alaska & adjacent portions of Russia

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