The Stefansson Sound Boulder Patch is a kelp bed community located in the central Alaska Beaufort Sea coast at water depths ranging from 5-7 m. Geographically isolated from other areas of hard rock substrate in the Arctic Ocean, the Boulder Patch is a regional biodiversity hotspot dominated by the kelp Laminaria solidungula. Our research program is funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to establish an integrated knowledge of this biologically productive and diverse ecosystem. Studies began in 1978 and continue through the present. We are currently supported through BOEM Award Number M12AS00001 to The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute.