News archives 2010-2021

2021 Research and Creative Activity Days' award recipients

April 20, 2021

University Relations


URSA's virtual 2021 Research and Creative Activity Days was a success, and its award ceremony saw 12 undergraduate students recognized for outstanding poster presentation.


The event featured posters highlighting activities in six UAF colleges and schools, and included scientific research, engineering designs and opera workshops. Deans judged the entries from their schools and colleges and chose the top entries. The Dean’s Choice Award winners each received a $250 cash prize, and those awarded honorable mention received $150.


The annual Research and Creative Activity Days is hosted by UAF’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity. URSA supports, develops and institutionalizes UAF’s diverse and robust programs of undergraduate research and creative projects.


College of Engineering and Mines


  • Dean's Choice Award

    • Joshua MacEachern — "Open-Source Multichannel Microfluidics Pump"



  • Honorable Mentions

    • Grace Bolt — "Matching Excess Renewable Energy Generation with Heat Loads on Microgrids"

    • Peyton Presler — "Determining Relative Age of Landslides Using LiDAR-derived Surface Roughness and Field Observations"




College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences



  • Dean's Choice Award

    • Will Samuel — "Analysis of the Cripple Creek Restoration Project: Assessing the Effects of Fish Passage Improvements and Habitat Enhancement on Fishes in a Chena River Tributary"



  • Honorable Mention

    • Talia Davis — "Ocean Water and Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis; yaak*) Samples Create Baseline for Climate Change and Pollution Indicators and Strengthen Data Sovereignty for the Tlingit Community of Kake, Alaska"





College of Liberal Arts



  • Dean's Choice Award

    • Madeline Andriesen, Taylor Hendricks, Lindsay Moisan, Ariana Lopez, Jonathan Lange, Jenna Dreydoppel, and Ellie Martinson — "Vocal Performance and Music Education"



  • Honorable Mention

    • Kayli Breuninger — "Exploring Well-Being During Winter Across Latitudes"





College of Natural Science and Mathematics


  • Dean's Choice Award

    • Lahra Weber — "Developing a Method for Quantification of HMS in Ion Chromatography"



  • Honorable Mentions

    • Grace Burrell — "Climate-Driven Changes in Hibernacula Temperature and Hibernation Physiology of Arctic Ground Squirrels (Urocitellus parryii) in Northern Alaska"

    • Michelle Reaume — "Denali Fault — How Do We Understand the Age, Magma Source and Growth Rate of Each Pluton?"




College of Rural Community and Development



  • Dean's Choice Award

    • Maria Burke— "Investigating Earthworms in Western Alaska"





School of Management



  • Dean's Choice Award

    • Craig Kyle Chythlook — "Water Services' Impact on Subsistence"






The 2022 Research and Creative Activity Day will be held on April 7, 2022.
For more information, please visit the URSA website.