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
Click here to view the URSA brochure.
Staff
Dr. Trent Sutton, Ph.D
URSA Director
tmsutton@alaska.edu | 907-474-7285
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).
Kate Pendleton
URSA Coordinator
klpendleton@alaska.edu | 907-450-8772
Kate manages the URSA awards process, organizes events, maintains the student tracking system and provides assistance for all URSA activities. She received a B.S. degree in Environmental Science from Lewis & Clark College.
URSA Advisory Board
Steffi Ickert Bond
Associate Professor of Botany, Curator of Herbarium
040 Museum, 907-474-6277
smickertbond@alaska.edu
Nicole Cundiff
Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Northern Leadership Center Director
208D Bunnell Bldg, 907-474-5401
nlcundiff2@alaska.edu
Carie Green
Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, School of Education
714D Gruening, 907-474-5516
carie.green@alaska.edu
Joanne Healy
Assistant Professor, Special Education
714A Gruening, 907-474-1557
jhealy7@alaska.edu
Sun Woo Kim
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
323 Duckering, 907-474-6096
swkim@alaska.edu
Alex Fitts
Vice Provost and Accreditation Liaison Officer
316 Signers Hall, 907-474-6253
affitts@alaska.edu
Brian Hemphill
Associate Professor, Anthropology
401 Bunnell, 907-474-6755
bhemphill@alaska.edu
Charles Mason
Professor, Journalism
105B Bunnell, 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
Andrew Seitz
Associate Professor, Fisheries
202 Arctic Health Research Building, 907-474-5254
acseitz@alaska.edu
Dave Valentine
Professor of Forest Soils
309 O'Neill Bldg, 907-474-7614
dvalentine@alaska.edu
Dave Verbyla
Professor of Geographic Information Systems
366 O'Neill Bldg, 907-474-5553
dlverbyla@alaska.edu
Xiangdong Zhang
Professor International Arctic Research Center
313 Akasofu Bldg, 907-4742675
xdz@iarc.uaf.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 2017-2018 include:
Andrea Bersamin
Wendy Croskrey
Elaine Drew
Devin Drown
Greg Finstad
Alex Fitts
Javier Fochesatto
Jennifer Guerard
Brian Hemphill
Falk Huettmann
Sun Woo Kim
Ilana Kingsley
Ellen Lopez
Charles Mason
Amy May
Joshua Reuther
Andy Seitz
Dave Verbyla
Peter Webley
Peter Westley