The 64th Golden North Salmon Derby is dedicated to
MALIN BABCOCK!

Malin Babcock

Photo courtesy of Ken Coate

Malin Babcock was born and raised in Juneau, and spent her early years at the family home at Vanderbilt Hill.  She attended Juneau schools on Fifth Street, and was one of four young women who were the first members of the Juneau 4-H club for girls.  Malin graduated in the last class (1957) from the old Juneau-Douglas high school, and received a Territorial Sportsmen Scholarship (this was only the fourth year for the scholarship program).  She earned a degree in Zoology at Oregon State University and later a Master’s degree in Zoology (Fisheries) at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

Malin Babcock held a position of fisheries research biologist at the Auke Bay Fisheries Laboratory working on sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay, and later transferred to the Habitat Section, and examined the effects of petroleum hydrocarbons on aquatic animals.  Nearly the last decade of her fisheries career was devoted to projects in Prince William Sound documenting the effects of the 1989 T/V Exxon Valdez oil spill.  Malin’s scientific publications on effects of oil on aquatic resources is highly pertinent in the world today.  In 1986, Malin was honored  by Juneau Federal  Executive Association as Federal Employee of the Year.  Malin was one of the charter members of the Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society.  In 1997, she retired with over 30 years in federal fisheries research.

Malin is actively involved in Gastineau Channel happenings.  She was active in establishing the Lynn Canal Fire District, and was a volunteer firefighter for many years.  She is a board member and treasurer of the Gastineau Channel Historical Society.  She is a State of Alaska certified hunter education instructor, and serves on the Douglas Island Pink and Chum Salmon, Inc. board of directors.  Malin serves as the president of the local chapter of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees, Assn.     

Malin Babcock is a long-time member of the Territorial Sportsmen, Inc.  She has served on the scholarship committee for 30 years, during which time the scholarship program was greatly improved and expanded.  The program now operates under the Territorial Sportsmen Scholarship Foundation, and Malin has served at its president for over 16 years.  The TSI scholarship program was opened to all high school graduates in the Juneau-Douglas Borough (not just to students seeking degrees in natural resources).  A graduate fellowship program in natural resources began in the mid 1980s, and a vocational/technical scholarship program began in the mid 1990’s under her leadership.  She has been a Golden North Salmon Derby Official at the Amalga Harbor station and prior to that, at the Tee Harbor station.

Malin’s parents were Doug and Lillian Babcock. She credits both of them for inspiration in her career and community service. Doug Babcock was active for many years in the late 1940s and 1950s in TSI as a board member and treasurer. He was involved in the early TSI efforts in hatchery rearing of salmonids and the Berner’s Bay moose transplant. She has two children, Doug Murray (who was a TSI scholarship recipient in 1978) and Gwen Horchover; and tries to live a life of leisure at her home on Lena Cove.