About us


Mission Statement

At the University of Alaska Fairbanks, URSA supports, develops and institutionalizes UAF's diverse and robust programs of undergraduate research and creative scholarship. At all levels, URSA aims to improve skills in critical thinking and communication and to engender a culture of life-long learning among all students, as well as enhance preparation and education of students who will fill the needs of Alaska’s 21st century workforce and society.

URSA is UAF’s resource for the development and promotion of experiential learning activities that engage undergraduate students to support UAF’s goal to become a leading student-focused research university. Building on existing efforts and capacities, URSA enables UAF students to pursue varying levels of research engagement from a single credit of first-year seminar to independent scholarly investigations or a senior thesis including BFA exhibit or performance

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 Staff

 

Trent Sutton, Ph.D.

Trent Sutton, Ph.D.

URSA Director

Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity

Eielson 302G

Trent is the Vice Provost, Accreditation Liason Officer, and serves as the Dean of General Studies. 

Trent completed his undergraduate education in Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University, and received a M.S. in Biological Sciences from Michigan Technological University and a Ph.D. in Fisheries Sciences from Virginia Tech. Prior to coming to UAF in 2007, Trent held faculty positions at both Lake Superior State University (1996-2001) and Purdue University (2001-2007). During his time at UAF, Trent has also held positions as a Professor of Fisheries Biology and as an Associate Dean in the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. 

 

Erin Kirchner

Erin Kirchner

URSA Coordinator and Assistant Director

Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity

Eielson 302E

Erin completed her undergraduate education in Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned a M.A. in Museum Studies from Arizona State University.

She has worked at UAF since 2020 and previously served as the Graduate School Office Coordinator.

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BreAnna Smith

BreAnna Smith

URSA Student Ambassador

Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity

Hi! My name is BreAnna. I grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I have an associate degree in Biology from Columbia State in Tennessee. I am currently working towards my bachelor's degree in Wildlife Biology and Conservation. I applied for and received Fall 2023 URSA Project Award funding to extract DNA from ancient spruce samples found on the North Slope under the mentorship of Dr. Diana Wolf.

My interests include traveling, hiking, baking, and hanging out with my two dogs, my cat, and my two bunnies! I've been in Alaska for over a year, and it has been an amazing journey so far! Feel free to contact me to learn more about the URSA Student experience!
 


 

URSA Advisory Board

The URSA Advisory Board meets once each semester during the academic year.  It provides a forum for formulating advice and making recommendations to the URSA Director regarding all aspects of the URSA Program.
The board consists of faculty from each of the Universities Schools and Colleges. 

Members for academic year 2023-2024 include:

Ana Aguilar-Islas
Associate Professor, Chemical Oceanography
College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
amaguilarislas@alaska.edu

Michael Angaiak
Assistant Professor, Elementary Education
School of Education
maangaiak@alaska.edu

Iris Cato
Associate Director
Academic Advising Center
iacato@alaska.edu

Brian Ellingson
Program Coordinator
Associate Professor
Process Technology Programs, CTC
beellingson@alaska.edu

Brooke Freeburg
Assistant Professor, Special Education 
School of Education
bcfreeburg@alaska.edu

John Greenfield
Associate Director
Military and Veteran Services
jjgreeenfield@alaska.edu

Misti Hopkins
Lead SSS Advisor
Student Support Services
mlhopkins2@alaska.edu

Claudia Ihl
Associate Professor, NW Science
Northwest Campus
cihl@alaska.edu

Steffi Ickert-Bond
Professor of Botany
College of Natural Science and Mathematics
Curator of Herbarium, UAMN
smickertbond@alaska.edu

Sun Woo Kim
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering and Mines
swkim@alaska.edu

Amanda Langhorst
Instructor & Program Director Applied Management
College of Business and Security Management
amlanghorst@alaska.edu

Charles Mason
Professor, Journalism
College of Liberal Arts

cwmason@alaska.edu

Kimberly McGinnis
Assistant Professor, MBA Director
College of Business and Security Management
kmcginnis2@alaska.edu

 

Anshul Pandya
Assistant Professor, Biosciences, College of Rural Studies and Community Development
Chukchi Campus
aapandya@alaska.edu

Neall Pogue
Faculty, History
College of Liberal Arts
nwpogue@alaska.edu

Sveta Stuefer
Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering and Mines
slstuefer@alaska.edu

Jennifer Tilbury
Associate Vice Provost of Student Success
jltilbury@alaska.edu

Dave Valentine
Department Chair, Natural Resources & Environment
College of Natural Science and Mathematics
dvalentine@alaska.edu

Peter Westley
Associate Professor, Fisheries
College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
pwestley@alaska.edu

 

Ana Aguilar-Islas
Associate Professor, Chemical Oceanography
907-474-1524
amaguilarislas@alaska.edu

Michael Angaiak
School of Education
907-474-5928
maangaiak@alaska.edu

Elaine Drew
Assistant Professor, Anthropology
907-474-6758
emdrew@alaska.edu

Brian Ellingson
Program Coordinator
Associate Professor
Process Technology Programs, CTC
907-456-1726
beellingson@alaska.edu

Alex Fitts
Vice-Provost and Accreditation Liaison Officer
907-474-6253
affitts@alaska.edu

 

Brooke Freeburg
Assistant Professor 
School of Education
907-474-6457
bcfreeburg@alaska.edu

Iris Harritt
SSS Associate Director
907-474-6497
charritt@alaska.edu

Carlton Hautala
Rural Student Services, Advisor
907-474-7871
cdhautala@alaska.edu

Claudia Ihl
NW Campus, biology
907-443-8417
cihl@alaska.edu

Steffi Ickert-Bond
Professor of Botany, Curator of Herbarium
907-474-6277
smickertbond@alaska.edu

Sun Woo Kim
Associate Professor
Mechanical Engineering
907-474-6096
swkim@alaska.edu

 

Charles Mason
Professor, Journalism
907-474-6217
cwmason@alaska.edu

Anshul Pandya
Assistant Professor, Biosciences, College of Rural Studies and Community Development
Chuckchi Campus, 907-442-3400, ext. 221
aapandya@alaska.edu

Sveta Stuefer
Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
907-474-2714
slstuefer@alaska.edu

Jennifer Tilbury
Associate Vice Provost of Student Success
jltilbury@alaska.edu

Dave Valentine
Department Chair
Natural Resources & Environment
907-474-7614
dvalentine@alaska.edu


 

URSA Review Board

The URSA Review Board consists of faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and professional researchers from all UAF campuses and disciplines. Each student application is reviewed by four faculty members. Current members may participate in one or all of the review sessions each academic year. If you are interested in participating, please contact the URSA office.

The members for AY 2023 - 2024 include:

Ana Aguilar-Islas
Kelechukwu Alu
Tav Ammu
Jungho Baek
Samantha Botz
Caroline Colquhoun
Shawn Crimmins
Wendy Croskrey
Curry Cunningham
LaVerne Demientieff
Eugenie Euskirchen
Carol Gray

Ryan Henderson
Joe Holt
Daisy Huang
Falk Huettmann
Zoe Jones
Jesse Kaczmarski
Thomas Kelly
Chandler Kemp
Ilana Kingsley
Cecile Lardon
Menghua Liu
Amy Lovecraft

Kimberly McGinnis
Natalie Monacci
Jen Peterson
Rorik Peterson
Eve Ryan
Derek Sikes
Suzan South
Lisa Strecker
Renate Wackerbauer
Phil Wight
Sveta Yamin-Pasternak
Simon Zwieback
 

Ana Aguilar-Islas
Elizabeth Alexander
Maher Al-Badri
Jungho Baek
Rich Carr
Cheng-Fu Chen
David Denkenberger
Subhabrata Dev
Elaine Drew
Devin Drown
Cynthia Edmonds

Eugenie Euskirchen
Daryl Farmer
Brian Hemphill
Joseph Holt
Falk Huettmann
Sun Woo Kim
Ilana Kingsley
Amy Lovecraft
Cecile Lardon
Charles Mason
Gerardo Miranda Reina

Mario Muscarella
Elisabeth Nadin
Santosh Panda
Jen Peterson
Inna Rivkin
Eve Ryan
Lisa Strecker
Renate Wackerbauer
Peter Webley
Sveta Yamin-Pasternak
Simon Zwieback