Research
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UAA undergrads study wolf behaviors with ADF&G
Keenan James Britt | March 18, 2025
UAA students are used to "howling" for the Seawolves, but last year, a small group of undergraduates had the opportunity to study Southcentral Alaska’s wild gray wolves thanks to a partnership between the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and UAA's Alaska Center for Conservation Science (ACCS).
Engage with our student researchers: events & spotlights
from fine arts to technology, humanities to life sciences, music to entrepeneurship, and more...
UAA DEPARTMENT OF ART | THESIS EXHIBITION BY CHELSIA MEDINA
'Dissipating is Our Nature: We Are All the Space We Surround Ouselves', by Chelsia Medina is this spring's UAA Department of Art's Bachelor of Fine Arts thesis exhibition, opening Monday, April 21 from 5-7 p.m. in the Kimura Gallery.
This event showcases student artwork upon the completion of the BFA program and is free and open to the public, with free parking in Arts lot for the reception.
Chelsia's exhibition runs from April 21 - May 2, 2025, Kimura Gallery hours 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.. Monday through Friday.
STUDENT RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT | COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FORUM 2025
On Friday, April 18th, this annual forum gathered students, faculty and community partners featuring:
- A review of community engagement at UAA throughout the year
- Announcement of the 2025 Selkregg Award Winner and an update from the 2024 Selkregg Award winner
- Overview and discussion of Community Engaged faculty projects and research
- Community Engaged Student Assistants (CESAs) poster presentations
Office of Research will continue to feature the projects achieved:
Addressing the Gap: Understanding the Impact of School Resource Officers in Alaska
Community Partner: Anchorage Police Department, School Officer Unit (Sgt. Chris Simmons)
Faculty: Mychal Machado, Associate Professor, Psychology
Student Researcher & Student Assistant: Jasmine Jones
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Gathering Perceptions on School Resource Officers in Alaska (PDF)
Addressing the Gap: Measurement Strategies to Understand the Impact of School Resource (PDF)
STUDENT RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT | UAA DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC | Joey Butcher
On Friday, April 18, the UAA Office of Student Success and the University Honors College hosted the annual Student Research and Creative Scholarship Showcase, where Joey Butcher's project caught much enthusiam. By combining his "theoretical knowledge of music theory", technical skill, creative expression and progressive experimentation; an evolving composition resulted.
Melancholia (noun: deep sadness or gloom; despair)
Faculty Research Spotlight
Dr. Brandon Briggs, Ph.D. | Professor of Microbiology and Director of the AIMS
Dr. Brandon R. Briggs is a Professor of Microbiology and Director of the AIMS core facility. His research explores how microbes survive in extreme environments and how they can be used for innovative applications. A key focus is sustainable critical mineral recovery, where microbes extract and separate essential minerals in an eco-friendly way and without the use of hazardous chemicals. He has developed a new biotechnology using Alaskan microbes that is more efficient and cheaper than traditional acid leaching processes. This research supports cleaner technologies and reduces environmental impacts, ensuring a more sustainable future for resource extraction.
Dr. Britteny M. Howell, Ph.D., CPG, CDP®, RYT | Associate Professor, Division of Population Health Sciences
Britteny M. Howell, PhD, CPG, CDP, RYT is a biocultural anthropologist and gerontologist who studies the interactions between physical and social environments, human health, and aging in the Circumpolar North. Through focus groups and card-sorting sessions, her team determined that the concept of “healthy aging” in this community could be broken down into twelve related, but distinct, concepts including having a purpose in life, engaging in lifelong learning, the importance of social relationships, and access to healthy food and physical activity. This “concept mapping” work led to the creation of an interdisciplinary team of faculty and students working on a National Institute on Aging (NIA/NIH) R15 award to develop a health education intervention for older adults in low-income urban housing communities in the Subarctic. This project is demonstrating that positive, strengths-based intergenerational learning experiences not only result in improved health for older adults (such as self-rated health, BMI, fruit and vegetable intake, and functional fitness), but also that student learning in the university is greatly enhanced by their engagement with research and hands-on experiences.
Dr. Jeffrey Libby, President’s Arctic Professor | Principal Investigator, ADAC ARCTIC
Jeff Libby, President's Arctic Professor for UAA and ADAC-ARCTIC Principal Investigator, leads several projects under the Center’s expansive research and education arms. One such project is the Center’s 10-week Arctic Summer Internship Program. The program offers students the ability to participate in hands-on field research including coastal monitoring, drone-assisted phenological studies, ice core sampling, and permafrost research in situ in Anchorage and Utqiaġvik, Alaska. It also features cyber-security and Arctic infrastructure components, preparing participants to enter the Homeland Security Enterprise (HSE). Libby is huge proponent of workforce development as a key component of research and education projects.