Tania Spurkland

Born in Cordova, and raised on a homestead in Homer, Tania is an avid science educator, marine ecologist, and outdoor enthusiast. For three decades, she taught biology in the Anchorage School District and loved taking her marine biology students to Kachemak Bay to explore the intertidal and learn about stewardship. She holds a PhD in Marine Ecology from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Through her “hands-on” outdoor watershed programs, she continues to inspire a sense of wonder in young children to adults. Tania now resides in Seldovia, the lands of the Dena’ina and Sugpiaq peoples, where she and her family love to hunt for wild edibles, tend their vegetable gardens, raise their chickens, and fill their freezers with fresh salmon, halibut, and cod. She hopes to put her passion for wild healthy ecosystems and strong sustainable communities to work for the Cook Inletkeeper.