People

Christa P. H. Mulder

Professor of Ecology, Department of Biology and Wildlife & Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks

email: cpmulder@alaska.edu Tel: +1 (907) -474-7703; Office: Irving I room 412, on North Koyukuk Drive

Mailing address: Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7000

Christa is a plant ecologist who works at the intersection of population, community, and ecosystem ecology. Her work involves direct and indirect interactions between several species, and between those species and their physical environment. Christa uses field and greenhouse experiments, observational datasets, and historical datasets (e.g., from herbarium specimens) in her research.

Christa's c.v. 2022

Christa's Google Scholar Account

Christa in the field in interior Alaska (top) and New Zealand (bottom)

Katie during her PhD research on invasive Melilotus plants and their impacts on pollination of several native species

Katie Villano Spellman

Research Assistant Professor, International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks

klspellman@alaska.edu, +1 907-474-1554

While technically not part of the Mulder lab - she has her own! - Katie is an honorary member. She completed both her MS and her PhD in the Mulder lab. Katie and Christa continue to collaborate on multiple research projects, including the Arctic Harvest Public Participation in Scientific Research / Winterberry project (for which Katie is the PI) and LateBloomers (an outreach component of the Funky Flowers project). Katie is also the Associate Director of the Fostering Science program.

Listen to this interview to find out more about Katie and Christa's long-term working relationship:

alaskavoices.org/lessons-on-long-drives-and-muddy-trails/

current and recent Lab members

Current students:

Ethan Overton, MS student

Natalie Detwiler, MS student

Will Hendricks (MS, 2024)

wqhendricks@alaska.edu

Will has been working in plant ecology since 2013 and is excited to be back in school asking questions. He is interested in plant and fungal ecology, evolution, and systematics, but above all enjoys investigating the mechanisms behind how organisms interact as parts of a larger community of organisms. Will got his BS degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor under Professor Tim Y. James and has done fieldwork at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in northern Michigan, the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Oklahoma, the Oregon State University Fire Ecology lab in Oregon, the Missouri Department of Conservation as a part of the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project in southern Missouri, and most recently at the National Ecological Observatory Network office (NEON) here in Fairbanks.

Will completed his MS on Equisetum phenology in response to air and soil warming in 2024 and continues to work for NEON.

Laura Weingartner (MS, 2024)

Laura studied the impact of smoke (in the absence of fire) on bog blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum), especially the fruits. She completed her MS in 2024 and is currently working as a science writer for the Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Extension.

Kara Kornhauser (MS, 2022)

Kara joined the Mulder lab in May of 2019 and has worked as a technician on the Funky Flowers project, participated in the Fostering Science program and co-taught a middle school module for ASRA (Burning Forests of Alaska). Her research centers on the potential for trophic mismatches between Viburnum edule (highbush cranberry) and its pollinators as plants shift their timing of flowering in response to warmer temperatures.

Kara has returned to the Mulder lab in a new role: as program coordinator for the Fostering Science program.

Lindsey Parkinson (MS, 2019)

Lindsey's research focused on spatial variability in the fruit production of Vaccinium vitis-idaea (lowbush cranberry or loganberry) and V. uliginosum (bog blueberry), taking advantage of the Bonanza Creek LTER Regional Site Network. She was active in outreach, and also participated as an instructor in the Alaska Summer Research Academy in 2017 and the Fostering Science program in 2018. You can find a publication from her research here: Patterns of pollen and resource limitation in two berry species.

Lindsey has returned to the Mulder lab as a staff member, working on developing our berry community profiles as part of the Alaska Berry Futures project.

Emily Werner (undergraduate, 2020-2021)

Undergraduate Emily Werner investigated changes in nutrient content of Viburnum edule over the past 75 years.

Grinding seeds requires liquid nitrogen! With mask, of course, because... 2020.

Graduate Students (pre-2018)

Jennifer Curl (MS, 2018)

Mel Durrett (PhD, 2014)

M. Nikki Grant-Hoffman (PhD, 2009)

Jennifer Rohrs (MS 2004, PhD 2011)

Joni (Reese) Johnson (MS 2006)

Katie (Villano) Spellman (MS 2008, PhD 2015)

Clockwise from top left: Jenny Rohrs, Nikki Grant-Hoffman, Mel Durrett at their field sites; Jenny and Christa at a site that burned down

Undergraduate and high school Researchers:

We love having undergraduates and high schoolers in our lab! Talk to Christa about joining an existing project or developing your own.

Past undergraduate researchers include Logan Bragdon, Brett Carlson, Amy Eddins, Elise Glenn, Cynthia McGee, Moriah Huntsiger, Eleanor Lynch, Katie Mohrmann, and Luke Ponchione.

Past high schoolers include Brooke Gottmeier and Gail Pyne.

Moriah Huntsiger and Luke Ponchione in the field

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