Meet Kerry “K” Nicholson, a research Biologist working with furbearers, bears, and wolves in Fairbanks! And follow Alaska Fish and Wildlife News for more stories for Women's History Month:
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"I never started my wildlife career thinking I wanted to be a bear biologist. As part of my job, I work on the North Slope of Alaska - right up on the edge where I can put my toes into the Beaufort Sea. There, I capture and collar grizzly bears to track their movements throughout the landscape and around the oil fields. The first time I handled a live grizzly bear I was struck by its smell. It smelled good – kind of like sage, but there is no sage in the tundra, or like moss if moss had a smell…it’s hard to describe, other than it was a comforting 'woodsy' smell.
The next most surprising thing was crawling into some of their dens and finding the variety of styles each bear likes to make each year. One bear apparently likes a long entry way, with one den being 17’ before you hit the chamber, another 8’. Then, in the chamber she liked to make substantial nests like a 3” thick nest of cassiope or a 2’x2’ grass pad. Unlike another bear who would make dens in sand dunes, so there was never a long tunnel and rarely a nest. Or another whose dens were so small I could only fit ½ of my body inside. Many I can crawl in and turn around to be able to crawl out, but not that one.
I grew up in a military household which meant seeing a lot of new places. Routinely changing locations meant honing my ability to adapt and my appreciation for diversity. Its hard to look at yourself through the eyes of another, let alone through the eyes of someone from a different culture. It can change your perspectives and inspire creative thinking. I get inspired when I really listen to the diversity of voices and watch how others interpret living their lives."
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