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Alaska URISE students conduct their research project under the mentorship of a UAA faculty advisor. Faculty advisors and their reserach projects for 2025-2026 are listed below. This list will continue to grow, so check back for updates!
A summary of each faculty mentor's research is provided in the drop down menus below and additional details can be found by following the links to faculty and lab websites. Faculty advisors and example projects from past years are also highlighted below.
2025-2026 Faculty Advisors
Department of Biological Sciences
Research in the Bishop Lab focuses on marine ecology for applied conservation science. Potential projects students may work on include:
Sleeper shark foraging ecology--learning stable isotope techniques for monitoring diet of deep dwelling marine predators
Marine mammal ecotoxicology -- learning sample preparation and analysis for heavy metals
The Dr. Briggs research group is highly interdisciplinary and has both a geomicrobiology and applied microbiology focus. The group uses a variety of molecular, physiological, microscopic, and bioinformatic techniques to characterize microbes from extreme environments and use those microbes for biotechnological applications. Currently, Dr. Briggs has projects that explore life underneath ice, mud volcanos, and other extreme environments. He also has a project that aims to develop a new sustainable process to obtain minerals that are critical for our economy.
Dr. Douglas Causey, and his students, work on research projects that combine field ecology and laboratory investigations. These include an on-going study of the habitat and behavioral ecology of Little Brown Bats, the distribution and population genetics of salmonids in Portage Valley, and the disease ecology of increasing Avian Mortality Events in the Bering Sea region caused by influenza, algal biotoxins, botulism, and other pathogens.
Chemistry Department
Department of Geological Sciences
Dr. Klein's lab focused on how changes in climate influence the movement of water through different Earth systems. All projects involve some mix of water, climate, and carbon in the Alaska/Arctic. Potential students projects include:
Understanding river discharge timing and characteristics in relation to cryosphere changes in High Arctic Greenland
Peatland carbon storage and relationship to wildfire history in SC Alaska
Department of Physics & Astronomy
The UAA Galaxy Evolution Group focuses on the formation and evolution of galaxies with an emphasis on the role of black holes in these processes. Projects explore the nature of galaxies with active galactic nuclei (AGN) with the goal of understanding how the active growth of the central supermassive black hole impacts the host galaxy and vise versa. Students work with data from the worlds largest ground-based telescopes (e.g. ESO's VLT, Keck Observatory) as well as space-based telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope.
The UAA Plasma Physics Lab studies the fourth state of matter, plasma! This includes experimental and computational studies of fundamental plasma phenomena, such as trapping plasma using radio frequency fields, as well as plasma applications and technology, such as spacecraft propulsion research in collaboration with NASA JPL.
Student Presentations of Past Projects
Joshua Wesolowski (AY20-21)
Advisor: Patrick Tomco (Chemistry)
Chae’ Colbert (AY20-21)
Advisor: Nathaniel Hicks (Physics)
Past Faculty Advisors (2019-2025)
Department of Biological Sciences
Dr. Jason Burkhead
Dr. Parisa Lotfi
Dr. Jess McLaughlin
Chemistry Department
Department of Geological Sciences
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Department of Mechanical Engineering
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