Tom Van Pelt is a biologist, coordinator, and program manager with 25 years of experience working in Alaska, Russia, and elsewhere in the north. Starting with a college summer job studying puffins in the remote Aleutian Islands, Tom worked as a research biologist at the USGS, an international policy specialist with the USFWS, and a seabird biologist with Audubon Alaska. Tom was on the staff of the North Pacific Research Board for five years, working in partnership with a diverse team to manage an ecosystem-scale research program called the "Bering Sea Project". Currently, Tom has a part-time research appointment with the NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies (CICOES) at the University of Washington as a coordinator and editor for the 'Synthesis of Arctic Research' project. Tom has also run an independent consultancy for fifteen years, and continues that work with a variety of clients and grantors, spanning government agencies, for-profit businesses, and non-profit conservation organizations.