Fostering collaboration between NOAA, the University of Alaska, and others doing research in Alaska and its associated Arctic regions

Student projects supported by the Cooperative Institute for Alaska Research through the Global Change Student Research Grant Competition

2017

Undergraduate student awards

• Ryan McCoy, Department of Geological Engineering: Analysis of catchment characteristics of frozen debris lobes - Brooks Range, Alaska

Graduate student awards

• Aaron Bland, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences: Delineating Aleutian epibenthic communities: The role of the changing environment
• Lei Cai, Department of Atmospheric Sciences: The Arctic Summer Dipole, its remote controls, and climatic implications for coastal Alaska
• Matvey Debolskiy, Department of Geosciences: Modeling impact of dynamic permafrost on long term response of terrestrial mesoscale watersheds in a warming environment
• Duncan Green, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences: Bioenergetic assessment of juvenile broad whitefish responses to climate change in the Alaskan Arctic
• Tessa Minicucci, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences: Effects of Asian pink and chum salmon on western Alaska chum salmon
• Cole Payne, Department of Geosciences: Changing Colville River environment and its impact on river navigation and subsistence travel
• Rebecca Rolph, Department of Geosciences: Investigating the impact of Arctic storms on the timing of freeze-up and changes in storm intensity and frequency over a lengthening open water period

2016

Graduate student awards

• Till Baumann, International Arctic Research Center: Arctic tides under the influence of changing sea ice
• Rich Buzard, Department of Geosciences: Coastal communities threatened by climate change: Coastal hazard assessment through citizen scientists monitoring programs in southwest Alaska
• Stephanie Crawford, Department of Biology and Wildlife: Sea lions as sentinels of ecosystem health: Using fasting profiles of nursing Steller sea lion pups from Russian and Alaskan rookeries (1990–2014) to evaluate nutritional stress
• Taylor Gofstein, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry/Institute of Arctic Biology: Fate and effects of petroleum contamination and chemical dispersants in Arctic marine environments
• Genevieve Johnson, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences: Using genotyping by sequencing population genetics approaches to determine the variation among individuals and populations of Tanner crab (Chionoecetes bairdi) in Alaska
• Yoko Kugo, College of Liberal Arts: Iliamna Yup'ik place names: Changes in landscape and local environments in Southwest Alaska
• Katie Shink, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences: Trophic ecology of Arctic lamprey (Lethenteron camtschaticum) in the Bering Sea
• Jared Siegel, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences: Changing size and age of Arctic–Yukon–Kuskokwim chinook salmon
• Stefan Tangen, School of Natural Resources and Extension: How can climate adaptation planning address threats to infrastructure in Alaskan communities?
• Sarah Traiger, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences: Supply or survival: Does spore dispersal or gametophyte survival limit the distribution of bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, in glacially-influenced estuaries
• Matthew Whitley, Department of Geosciences: Thermokarst-induced landscape change on the Yukon Kuskokwim (YK) Delta, Alaska, USA
• Ann-Christine Zinkann, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences: Contribution of microbially-derived carbon sources to Chukchi Sea benthic food webs

2015

• Doug Brinkerhoff, Department of Geosciences, UAF
  “Towards developing a sliding law for the tidewater glacier cycle.”
• Patrick Charapata, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Using the past to give insight into the future: Pacific walrus diet and stress response in a changing environment using bone and teeth.”
• Brandon Hassett, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Sea ice microbial eukaryotes: baseline studies to compare and predict future change.”
• Ilona Kemp-Noordeloos, Department of Anthropology, UAF
  “Economic globalization and its effects on the local economy, social structure and identity of the coastal Yup'ik village of Togiak, Alaska.”
• Deanna Leonard, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Late summer distribution of bowhead whales in the Canadian Beaufort Sea: Environmental correlates and predicting future habitat use.”
• Jenna Zechmann, Department of Geosciences, UAF
  “A seismic reflection study to characterize yearly and seasonal changes in sediments beneath Taku Glacier, Southeast Alaska.”

2014

• Kimberly (Tweet) DeGrandpre, Department of Geology & Geophysics, UAF
  “Relative sea level change in western Alaska as constructed from repeat tide gauge and GPS measurements.”
• Kyle Dilliplaine, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Sea ice meiofauna in an ice free Arctic summer; who is present and where will they go?”
• Amanda Meyer, School of Natural Resources and Extension, UAF
  “Exploring community climate change discourses in Nome, Alaska using Q-methodology.”
• Kelly Overduijn, Department of Biology & Wildlife, UAF
  “Reproductive success of arctic-breeding shorebirds in a changing climate.”
• Charlotte Regula-Whitefield, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Nutrition and reproduction in the California sea cucumber (Parastichopus californicus).”
• Alexander Sacco, Department of Geology & Geophysics, UAF
  “Sea ice conditions and walrus migration near St. Lawrence Island: Integrating local knowledge for assessing change and interpreting satellite data.”
• Tanja Schollmeier, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Effects of sea ice algal loss on benthic communities using biomarker analysis.”
• Chris Waigl, Department of Geology & Geophysics, UAF
  “Boreal forest fire severity and area assessment using mid- and thermal infrared remote sensing and field observations.”

2013

• Lauren Bell, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Lower trophic level food web structure on the Beaufort Sea slope.”
• Gregory Deemer, Atmospheric Sciences, UAF:
  “Towards improving operational sea-ice forecasts: Serving commercial and societal needs in the North Pacific.”
• Carlos Serratos, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Temporal comparison of epibenthic community and food web structure in the southern Chukchi Sea between 2004-2012.”
• Anna Szymanski, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Sinking or seeding: the spring fate of ice algae along the Bering Sea shelf.”
• Sarah Traiger, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Effects of glacial discharge on recruitment and succession on coastal rock communities.”
• Jonathan Whitefield, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Analysis of freshwater and heat pathways between the Pacific, Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans.”

2012*

• Adrian Bender, Geology, UAA (undergraduate)
  “Spatial and temporal variance of great earthquakes along the Alaska-Aleutian megathrust.”
• Elizaveta Ershova, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Residents vs. expatriates in the Pacific-Arctic gateway: unraveling the summer distribution of sibling copepod species in the Chukchi Sea.” [two years]
• Yuning Fu, Geology & Geophysics, UAF
  “Measuring seasonal hydrological effects in Alaska and accelerating mass loss in southeast Alaska with GRACE and GPS measurements.”
• Marijke Habermann, Geology & Geophysics, UAF
  “Changing basal conditions during the rapid disintegration of Jakobshavn Isbrae's floating ice tongue.”
• Vijay Patil, Biology & Wildlife, UAF
  “Modeling interactions between climate change, lake change and boreal ecosystem dynamics in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge.”
• Michelle Shero, Biological Sciences, UAA
  “Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) physiological plasticity: mechanisms to meet the demands of a changing world?”

2011*

• Jason Geck, Geology & Geophysics, UAF
  “Future climate impacts on mass balance and discharge from Eklutna Glacier, Alaska.”
• Jonathan Richar, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Recruitment mechanisms of Tanner crab in the eastern Bering Sea.”
• Shiway Wang, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Tracking the contribution of ice algal fatty acids to ice seals in the Bering Sea from 2003 - 2010.” [two years]
• Joanna Young, Geology & Geophysics, UAF
  “Improving mass change estimates for the Kahiltna Glacier through an expanded high elevation observation network.”
• Rebecca Young, Biology & Wildlife, UAF
  “Environmental determination of life-expectancy in long-lived seabirds: an inter-ocean comparison of kittiwake chicks’ responses to environmental stressors.” [two years]

2010*

• Timothy Bartholomaus, Geology & Geophysics, UAF
  “Physical oceanography and tidewater glacier dynamics at Yahtse Glacier, Alaska.”
• Daniella Della-Giustina, Physics, UAF
  “Regional modeling of Greenland outlet glaciers with the Parallel Ice Sheet Model.”
• Michael Garvin, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Whole mitochondrial genome analysis to uncover detailed genetic structure of chum salmon populations and possible historical refugia.”
• Samuel Herreid, Geology & Geophysics, UAF (undergraduate)
  “Effects of debris cover on glaciers in Alaska.”
• Joshua Holbrook, Mechanical Engineering, UAF
  “Determining anisotropic thermal conductivity of snow with needle probe measurements.”
• Eunkyoung Hong, College of Engineering & Mines (Interdisciplinary), UAF
  “Estimating damages costs for Alaska infrastructure at risk from climate change.”
• Santosh Panda, Geology & Geophysics, UAF
  “Modeling permafrost dynamics along the Alaska Highway corridor, Interior Alaska.”
• Jill-Marie Seymour, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Pacific Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) feeding ecology and possible links to Trichinellosis.”
• Kyle Wendler, Mechanical Engineering, UAF (undergraduate)
  “Preservation of traditional ice cellars in permafrost.”

2009*

• Christopher Barger, Biology & Wildlife, UAF
  “Mechanisms determining resilience of common murre (Uria aalge) populations to climate variability in the Bering Sea.”
• Robert Burgess, Biology & Wildlife, UAF
  “Climate change impacts on microbial lignocellulose decomposers in Alaskan boreal forest soil.”
• Katrina Knott, Biology & Wildlife, UAF
  “Eco-physical biomarkers and contaminants in a changing environment: Using stable isotope analysis to assess the biological significance of maternal transfer of contaminants in polar bears.”
• Robert McNabb, Geology & Geophysics, UAF
  “Monitoring and analysis of calving events at Franklinbreen, Vestfonna, Svalbard and Columbia Glacier, Alaska.”
• Marc Mueller-Stoffels, Physics, UAF
  “The ice-albedo feedback from a complex systems point of view.”
• Barbara Truessel, Geology & Geophysics, UAF
  “Seasonality of snow line retreat on a lake calving glacier”
• Jared Weems, School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences, UAF
  “Stable isotope turnover rates in select invertebrates: Significance to ice-pelagic-benthic coupling in the Bering Sea”

Student projects supported by the Cooperative Institute for Arctic Research ("old CIFAR") through the Global Change Student Research Grant Competition

2008

• Matthew Klick, Resource Economics,
  “Corporate social responsibility and community resilience: A case study of Norway's Snohvit gas complex.”
• Grant Shimer, Geology & Geophysics,
  “A paleoenvironmental analysis of lake sediments from Canyon Lake, Copper River basin, Alaska.”

2007

• Jason Amundson, Geology & Geophysics,
  “Investigating the climatic parameters influencing calving rates of Jakobshavn Isbrae, West Greenland.”
• Stefanie Bourne, Atmospheric Science Program,
  “Dynamical downscaling over Alaska and its applications.”
• Cody Strathe, Anthropology,
  “Variability in marine ecosystem productivity and effects on seal abundance, morphology, and subsistence hunting throughout the Holocene in the Shelikof Strait, Alaska.”

2006

• Jason Addison, Geology & Geophysics,
  “Late Quaternary environmental change in the Gulf of Alaska.”
• Nathan Coutsoubos, Biology & Wildlife,
  “Tundra-nesting shorebirds in relation to landscape transformation and climate change.”
• Dawn Magness, Biology & Wildlife,
  “A survey of management strategies linking global change to decision-making in the National Wildlife Refuge System.”
• Shannon McNeeley, Anthropology,
  “Climate change and variability in interior Alaska: an interdisciplinary approach to data integration and synthesis for establishing regional patterns relevant to stakeholders.”
• Blaine Spellman, Forest Sciences,
  “White sweetclover in Alaska: can this invasive affect the floodplain vegetative community?”
• Katie Villano, Biology & Wildlife,
  “Assessing wildfire burn susceptibility to invasive plant colonization in black spruce forests of interior Alaska.”

2005

• Hannah Clilverd, Institute of Arctic Biology,
  “Surface-subsurface hydrologic exchange and nitrogen transformations in the hyporheic zone of the Tanana River in Interior Alaska.”
• Carrin Halffman, Anthropology,
  “Tracking mercury levels in the arctic through time using archaeological bone: initial method validation.”
• Holly McKinney, Anthropology,
  “Temporal variability of archaeologically deposited fish remains in the Gulf of Alaska: an assessment of human and natural impacts.”
• Emily Molhoek, Geology & Geophysics,
  “An 8 ky record of vegetation cover, fire history, and moisture availability in north-central Mongolia: impacts of global warming and aridification.”

2004

• Pieter A.P. de Hart, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences,
  "Stable isotope analysis of Bowhead whale baleen as a biochemical recorder of shifts in migratory patterns during recent arctic environmental change"
• Susan B. Vanek, Anthropology,
  "The regulation of time, space and classification"
• Cory Williams, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences,
  "Tufted puffins as biological indicators of forage fish availability in the western Gulf of Alaska"

*UAA (University of Alaska Anchorage) students were also included in this competition 2009-2012.