URSA announces 2024 Fall Student Project Award recipients

The Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity congratulates the following individuals who received an URSA 2024 Fall Student Project Award.

Daniel Casner (Wildlife Biology and Conservation)
Mentor: Diana Wolf
Project: DNA sequencing of Marmota caligata stomach contents through metabarcoding

DNA analysis will be used on marmot stomach contents to see if their diet and microbiome change with habitat. We hope to break ground on our understanding of marmot diets as well as provide proof of concept for DNA analysis of stomach contents in marmots.

 

Ada Causey and Cori Patchkofsky (Geoscience)
Mentor: Florian Hofmann
Project: Timing of Volcanic Eruptions on Unalaska

Knowing the ages of past volcanic eruptions is important for the assessment of volcanic activity and hazards. Our goal is to conduct fieldwork and collect samples from volcanic features on Unalaska and determine their ages. This data can be used for future hazard mitigation.

 

Anastasia Chen (Chemistry)
Mentor: William Simpson
Project: Quantifying and Comparing Air Pollution Near the Fairbanks International Airport and Downtown

Sensors for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), CO2, and temperature will be placed at the base and top of the Fairbanks Airport Control Tower and the CTC building downtown. Collected data will be analyzed to evaluate the relationship between pollution and windflow in the context of temperature inversions and topography.

 

Jonas Fields (Geological Engineering)
Mentor: Margaret Darrow
Project: Dendrogeomorphological Tree Cores and the 11-Mile Landslide

This project entails processing tree cores and/or slabs (cookies) from the 11-Mile Landslide in Wrangell, AK to identify any trends observed during the trees’ lifespan. This analysis will help identify any potential warning signs of unstable slope prior to the 11-Mile Landslide.

 

 

James Phillips and Chelsea Wettroth (Biological Science; Wildlife Biology and Conservation)
Mentor: Todd Brinkman
Project: Little Brown Bats: Confirming Population Presence and Distribution on UAF Campus

Using ultrasonic frequency sensors, we will determine the presence and locations of Myotis lucifugus (Little Brown Bats) on the UAF campus. This project will give rise to other research opportunities, such as behavior, seasonal emergence and maternal colony studies.

 

 

Dorothy Sherer (Wildlife Biology and Conservation)
Mentor: Cristina Hansen
Project: Identifying Bacterial Infection in Alaskan Small Mammals

Through this project, we are looking for bacterial DNA in small mammals that could be common carriers for zoonotic disease - infection that can spread from animals to people. We hope to identify the found bacterial DNA to understand what bacterial infections might be spread to other animals and people.

 

URSA Student Project Awards are available for fall, spring, and summer terms. These awards support undergraduates (individual and group applicants) in all academic disciplines and located at all associated rural campuses to pursue research and creative activity projects at UAF. Applications for Spring 2025 project will open on Sept. 30, 2024.

Contact the URSA office for more information on how to get involved: uaf-ursa@alaska.edu | 907-450-8772.