What Is SAREO?

SAREO — Southeast Alaska Research and Education Organization — is an ecological research and education organization dedicated to understanding the processes through which ecosystems develop, adapt, regenerate, and sustain biological diversity.

SAREO seeks to apply this understanding toward practical methods of assisting ecological development, while exploring productive relationships between ecological regeneration and human economic activity.

Through research, education, collaboration, and field-based investigation, SAREO aims to develop knowledge that can benefit both the ecosystems upon which life depends and the communities and economies that depend upon those ecosystems.

Why SAREO Was Founded

SAREO was founded on the belief that scientific research, ecological regeneration, education, and productive human activity do not necessarily need to exist in opposition to one another.

The organization seeks to develop practical knowledge that can help people better understand the ecosystems around them and identify opportunities where ecological and human interests can reinforce one another.

SAREO does not claim to have all of the answers. It is being built as a framework for asking better questions, conducting better research, and developing people capable of continuing the work.

Research and Education

Research and education are central to SAREO's purpose.

The organization seeks to provide opportunities for students, researchers, field workers, educators, and other collaborators to participate in scientific investigation and field-based learning.

Through this work, SAREO hopes to develop both knowledge and people—building the scientific capacity necessary to better understand ecological systems and the practical skills necessary to work within them.

A Southeast Alaska Organization

SAREO begins its work in Southeast Alaska.

The region's interconnected marine, tidal, freshwater, forest, alpine, and glacial environments provide an exceptional setting for ecological research.

SAREO intends to develop its initial research programs within these ecosystems while building relationships with researchers, institutions, communities, and other organizations throughout Alaska and beyond.

Looking Forward

SAREO is still in its early development.

The organization will grow through research, education, collaboration, and the people who choose to participate in its work.

Its long-term development may take many forms, but its purpose will remain the same:

To understand the processes that sustain and develop life, and to use that knowledge to make the future better than it otherwise would have been without us.