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
Staff
Trent Sutton, Ph.D.
URSA Director
Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity
Trent is a Professor of Fisheries Biology and an Associate Dean in the College of
Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
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).
Marie-Sylvestre Olesen
URSA Coordinator
Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity
Bunnell 301
Marie manages the URSA awards process, organizes events, maintains the student tracking system and provides assistance for all URSA activities. She received a M.Sc. in Responsible Tourism Management from Greenwich University in Medway, U.K.
URSA Advisory Board
The board consists of faculty from each of the Universities Schools and Colleges. Faculty serve on the Advisory Board for 2 years.
Members for academic year 2021-2022 include:
Ana Aguilar-Islas
Associate Professor, Chemical Oceanography
907-474-1524
amaguilarislas@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
Iris Harritt
SSS STEM Advisor
Gruening, Room 501B
charritt@alaska.edu
907-474-6497
Claudia Ihl
NW Campus
907-443-8417
cihl@alaska.edu
Steffi Ickert-Bond
Professor of Botany, Curator of Herbarium
907-474-6277
smickertbond@alaska.edu
Ute Kaden
Associate Professor
School of Education
907-474-5721
ukaden@alaska.edu
Greg Kahoe
Term Assistant Professor
School of Education
907-474-5057
gckahoe@alaska.edu
Peggy Keiper
Director, Sport and Recreation Business Assistant Professor
Sport and Recreation Business
(907) 474-5905
mkeiper@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
Jon Nachtigal
Instructor
Sport Management
(907) 474-7916
jcnachtigal@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
463 Duckering Building
907-474-2714
slstuefer@alaska.edu
Jennifer Tillbury
Coordinator, CTC Learning Center
604 Barnette Street, Room 120
907-455-2860
jltilbury@alaska.edu
Dave Valentine
Professor of Forest Soils
309 O'Neill Bldg, 907-474-7614
dvalentine@alaska.edu
URSA Review Board
The URSA Review Board consists of faculty from all across UAF. All faculty members are eligible to participate. 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 2021-22 include:
Ana Aguilar-Islas
Maher Al-Badri
Jungho Baek
Rich Carr
Cheng-Fu Chen
Ross Cohen
Wendy Croskrey
Margaret Darrow
Jan Dawe
David Denkenberger
Devin Drown
Daryl Farmer
Greg Finstad
Kara Hoover
Falk Huettmann
Sun Woo Kim
Ilana Kingsley
Cecile Lardon
Wendy Martelle
Charles Mason
Mario Muscarella
Jen Peterson
Inna Rivkin
Eve Ryan
Jeremy Speight
Lisa Strecker
Kristin Timm
Renate Wackerbauer
Peter Webley
Sveta Yamin-Pasternak