Students-4 - Alaska INBRE

Students

Summer 2024 Undergraduate Research Assistants

Name	Project Title	Institution	Preceptor
Tammy Kiefer	Tire-Wear Toxins: Unmasking the Cellular Consequences of 6PPD-Q Exposure on Alaskan Salmon	UAA	Stecyk, J
Amber Richardson	Pioneering Pyrolysis GC-MS Methods for Tire and Road Wear Particle Analysis in Southcentral Alaska	UAA	Tomco, P
Halle Crawford	Baseline sampling of biotic and abiotic conditions of Auke Lake to better understand the growth and abundance of juvenile salmon important to the subsistence diet of humans.	UAS	Tallmon, D
Zachary Tozier	Investigating the Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Artemisia tilesii (Sargiġruaq) Extracts	UAS	Barth, B
Addison Elsik	Identification of Proteins that Comprise the Blood Brain Barrier in the Arctic Ground Squirrel	UAA	Hannah, R
Arianna Workman	Holothurians Against Leukemia	UAS	Barth, B
Pirada Anderson	Investigating the Effects of Temperatures in Snails Infected with Trichobilharzia alaskensis	UAF	Larson, D
Kyle Abbott	The range of phenotypic variation and developmental stability in Auke Creek juvenile pink salmon.	UAS	Tallmon, D
Gabriel Miller	Effects of RVG Binding on Dog and Human α7 Receptor Functionality	UAF	Welztin, M

2024 - 2025 Graduate Research Assistants

Name	Project Title	Funding Period	Institution	Preceptor
Riley Barber	Development Of A C3-Targeted Liposomal Vaccine Platform With Surface Conjugated Antigen	One-year	UAA	Kullberg, M
Agnes Lehr	Understanding The Risks Of The Soil Virome In High Latitudes	One-year	UAF	Drown, D
Gus Snyder	Molecular Underpinnings Of Hypoxia Tolerance In Notothenioid Fishes	One-year	UAF	O'Brien, K.
Amanda Stromecki	Mechanisms Of Rhizomediation In Diesal Contaminated Soils Of Ak	One-year	UAF	Leigh, MB
Hailei Nguyen	The Role Of Cdk5 And S6K In Oxygen Glucose Deprivation Tolerance In Neuron Stem Cell.	One-year	UAF	Drew, K
Sarah Suarez	Visinin-Like Protein Alters Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Function And Isoform Expression	One-year	UAF	Weltzin, M
Maxwell Plichta	Anthropogenic Noise On The Arctic Coastal Plain & Its Impact On Caribou Behavior	One-year	UAF	Brinkman, T

Summer 2023 Graduate Research Assistants

Name	Project Title	Length of Award	Campus	Faculty Mentor
Jordyn McNeil	The heart and brain metabolome of the anoxia-tolerant red-eared slider turtle.	Summer 2023	UAA	Stecyk
Hannah Woody	Characterization of the molecular and physiological stress response of notothenioid’s to hypoxia	Summer 2023	UAF	Muscarella
Lahra Weber	Novel alpha7 nACHR-selective RVG chimeric peptide as cargo-delivery agent targeting the CNS	Summer 2023	UAF	Weltzin
Travis Jennings	Akkermansia muciniphila and pre-hibernation fattening in thirteen-lined ground squirrels	Summer 2023	UAA	Duddlesston
Becca Olson	The Coupling of Mercury and Carbon Cycles in Boreal Forest Soils	Summer 2023	UAF	Muscarella

2023 - 2024 Graduate Research Assistants

Name	Project Title	Length of Award	Campus	Faculty Mentor
Agustus Snyder	Characterization of the Molecular and Physiological Stress Response of Notothenioids to Hypoxia	One Year	UAF	Kristin O'Brien
Amanda Stromecki	Phytoremediation of Diesel-contaminated Soils in Rural Alaska	One Year	UAF	Mary Beth Leigh
Bevyn Cover	Assessment of Antibiotic and Heavy Metal Resistant Genes in Northern Alaska	One Year	UAF	Devin Drown
Elizabeth Parry	The Development and Validation of a One Health Food Insecurity Vulnerability Index (FIVI)	Two Year	UAF	Andrea Bersamin
Gabriela Olmos Rosas	Testimonios de dulzura y dolor: The Social Context of Diabetes for Mexican Immigrants in Alaska	One Year	UAF	Elaine Drew
Garrett Savory	Do Amino Acid Nitrogen Isotope Ratios Capture Declines in Captive Muskox Body Condition?	One Year	UAF	Diane O'Brien
Hannah Woody	Energy Requirements of Cold-Adapted Bacteria in the Arctic Permafrost	One Year	UAF	Mario Muscarella
Jordyn McNeil	The Heart and Brain Metabolome of the Anoxia-tolerant Red-eared Slider Turtle.	One Year	UAA	Jonathan Stecyk
Lahra Weber	Novel Alpha7 nACHR-selective RVG Chimeric Peptide as Cargo-delivery Agent Targeting the CNS	One Year	UAF	Maegan Weltzin
Sarah Suarez	Epilepsy Associated Mutation Disrupts VILIP-1 Driven Modulation in α4β2 nAChRs	Two Year	UAF	Maegan Weltzin
Travis Jennings	Akkermansia Muciniphila and Pre-hibernation Fattening in Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrels	One Year	UAA	Khrys Duddlesston

Summer 2023 Undergraduate Research Assistants

Name	Project Title	Campus	Faculty Mentor
Danielle Wrenn	DART: Detection of Antimicrobial Resistance Toolbox	UAF	Drown
Joseph Milton	Determination of 6-PPD Quinone LC50 and Impact on Swimming Performance in Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye Fry	UAA	Stecyk
Charlotte Springer	Processing Stomach contents of Berryteuthis magister Squid using eDNA	UAS	Navarro
Aria Workman	Characterizing woodrat gut microbes and their role in toxin tolerance	UAF	Muscarella
Jorda Kovash	Change in gene expression indicates trembling aspen defense mechanisms against a new fungal pathogen.	UAF	Schutte
Donovan Varelman	Investigating the efficiency of fatty acid synthesis using a formulated diet for Dungeness crabs	UAS	Schram
Alyssa Sampson	The heart and brain metabolome of the anoxia-tolerant red-eared slider turtle.	UAA	Stecyk
Michelle Ramirez	Energy Requirements of Cold-Adapted Bacteria in the Arctic Permafrost	UAF	Muscarella
Agatha Boldt	Novel alpha7 nACHR-selective RVG chimeric peptide as cargo-delivery agent targeting the CNS	UAF	Weltzin
Hailei Nystuen	Akkermansia muciniphila and pre-hibernation fattening in thirteen-lined ground squirrels	UAA	Duddlesston
Maura Grahek	The Coupling of Mercury and Carbon Cycles in Boreal Forest Soils	UAF	Muscarella

2022-2023 Graduate Research Assistants

Name	Project Title	Length of Award	Campus	Faculty Mentor
Heidi McKee	Culturing Gut Microbes: Toward Understanding Beneficial Host-Microbe Interactions	One year award	UAA	Duddleston
Zoey Grenier	Copper stress in cells initiates compensatory alterations to zinc handling machinery	One year award	UAA	Burkhead
Harold Gridley	Assessing the Role of T-type CA2+ Channels in the Anoxia-Tolerant Turtle Heart	One year award	UAA	Stecyk
Jessica Johnson	Estimating the Trophic Position of Humans Using Amino Acid Nitrogen Isotope Ratios	One year award	UAF	O'Brien, D.
Sarah Suarez	Epilepsy Associated Mutation Disrupts VILIP-1 Driven Modulation in α4β2 nAChRs	Two year award	UAF	Weltzin
Brittany O'Brien	Development of rabies viral glycoprotein derived peptides for nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtype targeting	One year award	UAF	Weltzin
Elizabeth Parry	The Development and Validation of a One Health Food Insecurity Vulnerability Index (FIVI)	Two year award	UAF	Bersamin
Isaac Van Flein	Elucidating role of α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in OCD & ASD	One year award	UAF	Bult-Ito
Laura Weingartner	The influence of wildfire smoke on the phenolic compounds of a wild Alaskan berry	One year award	UAF	Mulder

Summer 2022 Undergraduate Research Assistants

Name	Project Title	Campus	Faculty Mentor
Danielle Wrenn	Portable Antibiotic Resistance Toolbox	UAF	Drown
Mallory Presler	Effects of Exercise and Cold Exposure on the Proportion of Contractile Fiber Types and Muscle Fiber Size of Rat Soleus Muscle	UAF	O'Brien, K.
Pierce Brooks	Potential Anticancer Properties of Various Platinum (IV) 2-phenylpyridine Halogens	UAA	Howard
Corbin Flaming	Gene Expression of Regulators of G-protein Signaling in the Heart and Brain of the Anoxia-tolerant Turtle Trachemys scripta	UAA	Stecyk
Jacob Ferrill	Contributions to Perfluorooctanoic Sulfonate (PFOS) and Perfluoroctanoic Acid (PFOA) Levels from Food Processing Procedures	UAS	Hoferkamp
Carmen Soto	An Investigation into Mercury Contamination in Juneau, AK from Legacy Gold Mining	UAS	Nagorski
Emily Vernon	Effects of Antifreeze Proteins on Lipid Membrane Stabilization for Cryopreservation Purposes	UAS	Meister
Charlotte Springer	Analysis of Heavy Metal Contents of Armhook Squid, Berryteuthis magister	UAS	Navarro
Yeraldy Olivero	Environmental DNA and Hydrography for Biological Community Surveys in SE Alaska	UAS	Navarro

2021-2022 Graduate Research Assistants

Name	Project Title	Length of Award	Campus	Faculty Mentor
Ameneh Arabi	Development of MUC1 cancer immunotherapy using complement targeted liposome	One year award	UAA	Max Kullberg
Caitlin Kollander	Virus Transmission in Southcentral Alaska Myotis lucifugus Populations	One year award	UAA	Douglas Causey
Jin Ziyang	Therapist Immediacy in Addressing Alliance Ruptures from Patients’ Perspectives	One-year award	UAA	Sara Buckingham
Heidi McKee	Culturing gut microbes: toward understanding beneficial host-microbe interactions	One year award	UAA	Dr. Khrys Duddleston
Issac Van Flein	Elucidating role of α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in OCD and ASD	Summer	UAF	Abel Bult-Ito
Jessica Johnson	The robustness of an isotopic biomarker of added sugars across populations	One year award	UAF	Diane O'Brien
Kelly Ireland	Effect of Crude-Oil Exposure on Threespine Stickleback Fish Health and the Role of Host-Microbiome	Two year award	UAA	Brandon Briggs
Michelle Johannsen	Mechanisms of Muscle Preservation and Fat Loss Due to Cold Exposure and Exercise	One year award	UAF	Scott Ryan Oliver
Monica Brandhuber	Monitoring Polar Bear Reproduction and Metabolism with Novel Biomarkers	One year award	UAF	Shannon Atkinson
Sarah Suarez	Epilepsy Mutation and VILIP-1 in α4β2 nAChRs Shapes Dendritic Arborization	One year award	UAF	Maegan Weltzin
Shannon Medlock	Gut and milk microbiotas influence on offspring in arctic ground squirrels	One year award	UAA	Khrys Duddleston

Summer 2021 Undergraduate Research Assistants

Name	Project Title	Campus	Faculty Mentor
Athenia Large	Cerebral and mesentery VSMC KV channel expression of the red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta) during anoxia at 5°C and 21°C	UAA	Rachael Hannah
Cora Lyon	Whole Genome Analysis of Brucella abortus: Determining Virulence Factors Involved in Brucellosis‐related Abortions	UAA	Brandon Briggs
Daphne Mueller	Validation and deployment of qPCR assays for the detection of Icthyophonus spp., a Chinook salmon pathogen	UAF	Andres Lopez
Debra Lane-Hayes	Cellular Identification of Trachemys scripta brains following anoxic survival	UAA	Rachael Hannah
Eleanor Ransdell-Green	Aerobic and anaerobic metabolic remodeling in three-spine stickleback fish in response to cold acclimation	UAF	Kristin O'Brien
Erin Galla	Are Mercury Levels a Concern in Commonly Harvested Fish in Alaska?	UAS	Sonia Nagorski
Jules Pender	The Diversity of Mercury Methylating Bacteria Across a Permafrost Thaw Gradient in Interior Alaska	UAF	Mario Muscarella
Keith Sellers	Smartphone-Enabled Thiamine Measurements for use in Resource Limited Settings	UAS	Lisa Hoferkamp
Muriel Dittrich	Using Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring to Understand PSP Risks and Mitigate Testing Burdens at a Shellfish Farm in Southeast Alaska	UAS	David Tallmon
Myles LaValley	The Effects of Upper Respiratory Tract Co-Infection on COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load	UAA	Eric Bortz
Nicole Patkotak	Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell K-ATP channel expression in Trachemys scripta (red-eared slider turtle); keeping blood vessels open in the brain during exposure to low temperature and reduced oxygen environments.	UAA	Rachael Hannah
Sage Robine	Retrograde trafficking of COMMD proteins in response to viral infection	UAA	Jason Burkhead
Thomas Kosten	Mucosal immunity transcriptomics from SARS-CoV-2 cases in Alaska	UAA	Eric Bortz
Zoey Grenier	Copper stress in cells initiates compensatory alterations in zinc handling machinery	UAA	Jason Burkhead

2020-2021 Graduate Research Assistants

Name	Project Title	Mentor	CAMPUS
Ralf Dagdag	The Commander Complex: Potential As Novel Antiviral Proteins	Bortz	UAA
Molly Garner	Electro-mechanical Coupling In The Heart Of A Champion Of Anoxia Survival	Steyck	UAA
William George	Surveillance and Genome Analysis Of Bat Borne Coronavirus In Alaskan Bats	Bortz	UAA
Tracie Haan	Health Implications of Permafrost Resistome Effected by Disturbance-Induced Thaw	Drown	UAF
Caitlin Kollander	The Virus Ecology of Myotis lucifugus in Sothcentral Alaska	Causey	UAA
Brandon Kowalski	Sex Specific Responses in Protein Metabolism During Arduous Field Opperations	Coker	UAF
Shannon Medlock	Gut And Milk Microbiotas Influence On Offspring In Arctic Ground Squirrels	Duddleston	UAA
Kendall Mills	The Role Of Melanin In Immune Function: A Wild Rodent Model	Olson	UAF
Evelina Natekin	Medical Implants Bioinspired By Shark Cartilage	Wilger	UAA
Kristofer Sasser	Defense At What Cost? Measuring the Energetic Cost of Divergent Immune Phenotypes	Weber	UAA
Taylor Seitz	Soil Microbial Community Effects On Alaskan Subsistence Food Security	Drown	UAF
Sarah Suarez	NFLE Mutation Disrupts VILIP-1 Modulation, Shifting α4β2 nAChR isoform Expression	Weltzin	UAF
Alex Francian	Enhancing Tumor Antigen Presentation With Complement Liposomes	Kullberg	UAA
Michelle Johannsen	Mechanisms Of Muscle Preservation And Fat Loss In Response To Cold And Exercise	Oliver	UAF

2020-2021 Undergraduate Research Assistants

Awardee	Project	Campus	Mentor	Semester
Grenier, Zoey	Copper stress in cells and initiates compensatory alterations in zinc handling machinery	UAA	Burkhead	Summer
Jasmin, Ariane	Analysis of the hypoxia‐induced response in Notothenia coriiceps	UAF	O’Brien	Summer
Lyon, Cora	Next generation sequencing of extremophiles: Determining the DNA repair mechanisms of Deinococcus radiodurans and its applications.	UAA	Bortz	Summer
McKay, James	An examination of the cytosolic protein visinin-like protien-1 effect on wild-type and associated nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy nicotinic acetylcholine receptors	UAF	Weltzin	Summer
Novell-Lane, Sarah	Assessment of PFAS in biota and sediment from a contaminated source near Utqiaġvik (Barrow), Alaska	UAS	Hoferkamp	Spring/Summer
Novell-Lane, Sarah		UAS	Hoferkamp	Spring/Summer
Parades, Elvin	The Effects of temperature on Trichobilharzia Alaskensis shedding in Arctic snails	UAF	Larson	Fall/Spring
Reisinger, Jessica	Heterologous expression of HCN channels of Trachemys scripta (red-eared slider turtle)	UAA	Stecyk	Summer

2019-2020 Graduate Research Assistants

NAME	TITLE	Campus	*one or two year	Mentor	Degree sought
Tracie Haan	Health Implications of Permafrost Resistome Effected by Disturbance-Induced Thaw	UAF	1	Drown	MS
Alex Francian	Enhancing tumor antigen presentation with complement liposomes	UAA	2	Kuhlberg	PhD
Emilie Morrell	Influences of sex, dietary fructose and dietary Cu on NAFLD pathogenesis, a multi-omics approach	UAA	1	Burkhead	PhD
Sarah Rice	Cross talk between metabolism and nervous system initiates arousal during hibernation	UAF	1	Drew	PhD
Cassie Duncan	Ultrastructural modulation of hypothalmic pituitary cells during puberty	UAF	1	Williams	MS
Monica Brandhuber	Development of a New Technique to Monitor Reproduction in Polar Bears	UAS	1	Atkinson	MS
Michelle Johannsen	Mechanisms of Muscle Preservation and Fat Loss in Response to Cold and Exercise	UAF	2	Oliver	PhD
Ralf Dagdag	The Commander complex: potential as novel antiviral proteins	UAA	1	Bortz	MS
Shannon Medlock	Gut and milk microbiotas influence on offspring in arctic ground squirrels	UAA	1	Duddleston	MS
Tynan Becker	Role of cathepsins in determining immunodominance	UAF	1	Kuhn	PhD
Brandon Kowalski	Sex-Specific Responses in Protein Metabolism During Arduous Field Operations	UAF	1	Coker	MS
Evelina Natekin	Medical Implants Bioinspired by Shark Cartilage	UAA	Fall 2019	Wilga/Calhoun	MS