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Todd Radenbaugh remembered as a 'visionary' dedicated to environmental education in Bristol Bay

The Dillingham professor had a deep love for science and Bristol Bay. Those that knew him say over the past 15 years he’d become a beloved as a researcher and member of the year-round community. He died after a long illness in October at the age of 56.

If you have stories, memories or thoughts you’d like to share about Professor Todd Radenbaugh, record yourself on your mobile phone and email it to news@kdlg.org. You can also call 907-842-2200 to record over the phone. Those audio clips will be posted to this story.

Todd Radenbaugh was known for his tenacity and his boundless enthusiasm for education and the environment — someone who approached global problems through community action.

Credit Courtesy of Michele Masley
Radenbaugh with students at Salmon Camp in 2016.

"Sustainability starts local. And sustainability has to stay local. And sustainability has to use both science and local culture,” said Radenbaugh, speaking to KDLG last year at Dillingham’s March for Science event. “Know where your water comes from. I mean, that’s a local thing. Know a little geography. Should you build there? Is there a landslide going to come in and hit the property that you just bought. So there’s a lot of stuff you can do by educating yourself in a science way that you can be much more compliant with Mother Earth, shall we say, and trying to keep her healthy.”

Michele Masley was Radenbaugh’s wife of 14 years. They met at grad school in Canada.

“It’s funny, I always called him my walking encyclopedia,” she said. “I could ask him a question about anything, and I would get a very long-winded response,” she laughed. “And so he learned to look at me for cues about when to stop talking.”

Radenbaugh grew up in North Carolina and earned an undergraduate degree in marine biology at UNC Wilmington. He went to Appalachian State University for his Masters in paleontology, and received his PhD in interdisciplinary science from the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. He also worked with the Peace Corps in Jamaica.

Credit Courtesy of Michele Masley
Radenbaugh working with a student.

He came to Dillingham in 2006 to take up a post as an associate professor of environmental science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Bristol Bay Campus. And he didn’t waste any time getting to work.

“When he came to Dillingham he came right from the airport, and he came right down to the campus, and I was teaching a class,” said Mark Lisac, a retired federal fisheries biologist. “He had all these big ideas, and I was sitting there rolling my eyes, thinking, ‘Oh, this guy just came into town, some PhD egghead from somewhere.’ But over the years, I got to know Todd, and he really impressed me. It’s a great loss to the community and the world to lose someone of that caliber.”

Radenbaugh started the campus’ Environmental Science Program. He also created the Western Alaska Interdisciplinary Science Conference. The annual event brings together people and students who work and conduct research around Bristol Bay.

Lisac said Radenbaugh did not let his students get distracted during his lectures.

Credit Courtesy of Michele Masley
Radenbaugh holding a sign in front of a mural at a march in Dillingham.

“You know how everybody is, they’re giving all these lengthy Powerpoints and they drone on for a while — me included,” Lisac said. “Well, Todd gave a presentation about the importance of estuaries. And everybody woke up. Because if you’ve ever heard Todd give a talk, he got very loud at times. And if he saw people dozing off, he would actually yell at the conference. And I think he probably yelled the word ‘estuary’ about 20 times during that presentation, and everybody was awake.”

Radenbaugh also organized and chaired numerous other conferences, forums, workshops, educational programs and focus groups. He helped organize the Alaska Forum on the Environment, and he chaired its Environmental Education Track. Additionally, he chaired a number of the AAAS Arctic Science Conferences.

Kim Williams, the acting director of the Bristol Bay Campus, said she remembers Radenbaugh from her work at Nunamta Aulukestai, which was a non-profit association of Bristol Bay village corporations and Tribal councils.

Williams said he was dedicated to working with local people on environmental issues in the region.

“His contribution to training through classes, training the IGAP Tribal workers on how to look at water quality, to me, that was a testament to his long legacy in our region that our conversations around resource development — we have better conversations because of Todd,” Williams said. “He gave us the techniques to look at what is the science behind water quality. And that, I think, is invaluable.”

Credit Courtesy of Michele Masley
Radenbaugh speaking at the Alaska Forum on the Environment in 2017.

“You could really see that enthusiasm for what he did, and for spreading knowledge,” said Gabe Dunham, who worked with Radenbaugh as part of his job with the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program. “He really is one of the sole sort of representatives of the science and research communities that lived here year-round. [Radenbaugh] was an excellent teacher and really good at communicating those concepts and those ideas to people. That’s really where I think some of his greatest impact came from.”

Radenbaugh was a scientist who went beyond salmon, Dunham explained. He was one of the first people to conduct benthic trawl surveys in Bristol Bay. Through those surveys, he studied isopods — shrimp-like creatures that live in the mud and water around Bristol Bay and feast on salmon carcasses, making them integral to the region's food web.

In the outpouring of remembrances after Radenbaugh’s death, people pointed to his dedication to education, his vast influence on those he worked with and his desire to help people better understand the science and the environment around them.

“I think his lasting legacy is having people look beyond salmon in Bristol Bay,” said his wife, Michele Masley.

She said Radenbaugh was a visionary, and that he held a deep love for this region.

“He loved how wild and immense and unique Bristol Bay was, from an environmental point of view. I hope he contributed to a broader thinking about the ecological value of Bristol Bay,” she said.

Radenbaugh died of metastatic cancer on October 26. He was 56 years old. It was an illness that had dogged him for years; he had a brain tumor removed more than a decade ago.

Masley is tentatively planning a celebration of life for him in the spring.

Credit Courtesy of Michele Masley
Radenbaugh in 2019.

Contact the author at isabelle@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.

Izzy Ross is the news director at KDLG, the NPR member station in Dillingham. She reports, edits, and hosts stories from around the Bristol Bay region, and collaborates with other radio stations across the state.