Directors

Jeff Libby
Photo of Jeff Libby
Director, Applied Environmental Research Center; Executive Director, Arctic Domain Awareness Center; and Director, Center for Strategic Partnerships and Research
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone: (907) 786-0432
Email: jllibby@alaska.edu
Jeff Libby serves as the Director for the Applied Environmental Research Center (AERC). He also serves as the Director for ADAC-ARCTIC and for UAA's Center of Strategic Partnerships. Jeff previously served as an Associate Dean for the University of Alaska Anchorage, Community and Technical College. He holds an MBA and an M.S. in Project Management as well as an International Master of Business Administration. Jeff also has a Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences with a concentration in Environmental studies and a diploma in Expertise in Coaching and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Mr. Libby is passionate about the Arctic, environmental impacts and climate change. He has been instrumental with student engagement opportunities and is known for developing the first federally recognized and approved research technician apprenticeship program authorized by the U.S. Department of Labor.

 

Heather Paulsen
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Director of Business Development and Grants and Contracts
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone: (907) 786-1663
Email: hpaulsen@alaska.edu
Heather Paulsen serves as the Director for Research Operations at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She is also the Finance Director of ADAC-ARCTIC. Ms. Paulsen also serves both ADAC and the Applied Environmental Research Center (AERC) as the Authorized Official Representative since August 2014, following a 10 plus year career in Higher Education in Finance.  Ms. Paulsen provides oversight of federal task orders and management of Department of Defense and Department (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contracts. She previously served as the Director of Business Development and Grants and Contracts for the UAA Business Enterprise Institute and the Director of Finance for the UAA, Business Innovation Zone (a 501c3 affiliate of the University). Her responsibilities included: operational and financial management of the first 501c3 affiliate education and economic non-profit approved by the University of Alaska System Board of Regents from startup, the DHS CoE ADAC financial management, and the financial and operational management of the Business Enterprise Institute. She has a proven track record and experience of leading financial strategies to facilitate ambitious growth plans from the financial day to day operational aspects from oversight and delivery of annual budgets, to expenditure tracking, operating budgets, and long range financial planning, investing, and forecasting all while ensuring appropriate federal, state, and local compliance and arm’s length controls between the organizations to safeguard stakeholders. Ms. Paulsen holds a Master's in Project Management, Master’s in Business Administration in Technology Management and a Bachelor’s of Science in Applied Mathematics.
David Leiva
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Associate Director of Education and Workforce Programs
Phone:  
Email: deleiva@alaska.edu

David Leiva joins AERC as the Associate Director of Education and Workforce Programs. He previously served as the Senior Academia Advisor for the FEMA Interagency Recovery Coordination cadre, working in Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, and Texas to bring multiple Institutions of Higher Education into the long-term recovery process at various federally-declared disasters. David is the co-author of FEMA’s Project SCALE (Securing Capacity through Academic Leadership and Engagement), a tactical and statewide approach to resolving long term post-disaster recovery issues. David is a New Orleans native, veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and holds a master’s degree in economic development from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master’s degree from the U.S. Naval War College. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He serves on the faculty of Tulane University Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy and Master of Public Administration program. In addition, David holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Mississippi Army National Guard, where he is the Commander of 2nd Infantry Training Battalion. David will also complete his doctorate in international economics in 2025.

Project Managers

Cameron Wilson
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AERC Project Manager
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone: (907) 786-0321
Email: cwilson17@alaska.edu

Cameron Wilson joined the Applied Environmental Research Team at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) in spring of 2020. He recently completed his M.S. in Civil Engineering at UAA with a project titled Per Capita Water and Fixture Use in Rural Alaska. The project involved collecting data on water use ranging from per capita consumption based on community water production to measuring how much water is used at each individual fixture within the home at any given time. He designed, built, and programmed custom sensors to accomplish the task and then deployed them in several villages. He is now involved in a variety of projects including coastal GPS surveying and modeling, pacific salmon studies, forestry, and the identification/eradication of invasive plant species. Originally from North Carolina, he grew up in the earthmoving business and has experience operating heavy equipment and project implementation. He earned his B.S. in Biological Engineering from NC State focusing on bioprocessing and alternative fuels, then immediately after graduating and completing his research, he drove to Alaska seeking opportunity. After only a few short months, a field engineering position led to five years in the west Texas oil fields before he was finally able to come back to Alaska to continue his education and a career in research.

Joe Cook
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AERC Project Manager
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email:  jcook73@alaska.edu

Joseph Cook, CMSgt USAF (Ret) serves as a Project Manager and works with multiple facets of the Applied Environmental Research Center to include contractual, fiscal operations, and compliance with federal, state, and agency specific regulations. Cook has more than 20 years of management and leadership experience with a proven record for leading dynamic and diverse teams through multifaceted projects towards organizational success.  After completing a career in the United Air Force, Cook recently transitioned, joining the University of Alaska Anchorage team in 2023.  He holds a Master’s in Management with a concentration in Organizational Leadership. He completed his undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. 

Cat Warden
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AERC Project Manager
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email: cawarden@alaska.edu
Cat Warden serves as a Project Manager working with multiple facets of the Applied Environmental Research Center to include contractual, fiscal operations, and compliance with federal, state, and agency specific regulations. Cat has more than 20 years experience in talent acquisition management, facilitation and leadership.  She is passionate about process improvement. Cat uses her spare time carving relief blocks used in traditional printmaking.
Vanessa Allen
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AERC Project Manager
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email: vlallen@alaska.edu

Vanessa Allen serves as the Education and Workforce Manager for UAA’s Applied Environmental Research Center (AERC). In this newly created position Vanessa manages the Registered Apprenticeship programs and assists with Workforce Development initiatives for ADAC-ARCTIC. Vanessa was a former educator for 21 years with the Anchorage School District and transitioned to Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) working in clinical education before joining UAA. As an alumna, she holds a Master’s of Science Degree in Career and Technical Education, e-Learning Graduate Certificate and Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Sociology. She joined the University of Alaska Anchorage family and the AERC team in August 2023.

Research Technicians

Caitlin Kollander
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Senior Research and Grant Technician
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email: cakollander@alaska.edu

Caitlin Kollander was born and raised in Anchorage Alaska. She began work as a participant with the Applied Environmental Research Center (AERC) in 2019 surveying Tricolored Blackbirds in California and performing bat surveys on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. She continued to participate on a variety of AERC projects while she completed her B.S., majoring in Biological Sciences and Natural Sciences with a minor in Environmental Studies, and then her M.S. in Biological Sciences at UAA. Her master’s thesis, titled The Virus Ecology of Myotis lucifugus in Southcentral Alaska, explored how bat ecology influences the Alaskan bat virome and likelihood of novel virus emergence from subarctic bats. She joined the AERC team as a research technician in 2023 and now primarily studies bat ecology in addition to assisting with salmon, forestry, and invasive plant management projects. While Caitlin specializes in bat ecology, she has research experience in a variety of other fields including song- and shorebird, marine mammal, fish, and small and large mammal ecology.

Alta Franklin
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Research Technician
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email: akfranklin2@alaska.edu

Alta Franklin joined the UAA Applied Environmental Research Center (AERC) in January 2022 after completing a Forestry and Wildlife Research Technician position on JBER. Alta graduated from University of Alaska Fairbanks during the spring of 2020 with a B.S. in Fisheries and Ocean Sciences with a concentration in Ocean Science, and a minor in Marine Science. She is an avid scuba diver, with certifications in Nitrox, Rescue, Cold Water and Dry Suit diving, and has experience with AAUS and technical diving. Specialized cold water diving played an integral part of her undergraduate research project in the Chemical Oceanography Department at UAF. At the AERC, Alta is part of the Oahu team working to restore wetlands on Bellows Air Force Station.

 

Samuel Franklin
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Research Technician III
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email: sfranklin2@alaska.edu

Samuel Franklin graduated from the University of Alaska in spring 2021 with a B.S. in Natural Sciences, concentrations in biological and geological sciences, and a minor in public health. He joined the Applied Environmental Research Center in summer of 2020 as a participant before moving into a research technician position a month later. In 2016, he worked as a research technician for UAA maintaining experimental sites and collecting data for various climate change studies at Thule Airbase in northwestern Greenland. In his current role at AERC, he works on the wetland restoration project at Bellows Air Force Station in Hawaii.

Samantha Golden
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Research Technician
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email: sgolden4@alaska.edu

Sam Golden was raised in southern California, spending every summer camping and hiking in the Channel Islands National Park and Mammoth Mountain. There, she discovered her passion for being outdoors and searching for animals. She attended Humboldt State University in Northern California, and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Biology with an emphasis in Vertebrate Conservation in 2021. As an undergraduate, she worked on survey projects involving songbirds, waterfowl, invertebrates, and invasive species removal. She came to Alaska in May 2022 to be a field participant with AERC and was hired as an apprentice field technician for the 2023 season. Sam will be assisting with salmon surveys, invasive species management, moose browse enhancement, and urban forestry.

 

Jacob Hart
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Research Technician IV
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email: jahart5@alaska.edu

Jacob Hart joined the Applied Environmental Research Center (AERC) in April of 2022 as the lead forester. Growing up in Wisconsin, Jacob realized his passion for nature through spending much of his free time outdoors and cutting countless cords of firewood. Jacob served in the United State Marine Corps Reserves, and in the spring of 2020, graduated from the University of Missouri - Columbia with a B.S. in Forestry also earning a GIS certificate. Following graduation, Jacob worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation in multiple roles and regions gaining experience as a wildlife technician and forester. In his current role at AERC, he primarily works on the forest resources and moose browse enhancement projects conducted on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Bryson Smith
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Research Technician IV
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email:  basmith23@alaska.edu

Bryson Smith grew up in a military family which brought him to Alaska where his passion for wildlife conservation began. He graduated from UAA with a B.S. in Biological Sciences in 2022. During his time at UAA he worked on multiple game camera projects in the Goose Lake area, one to spatially track birds, and the other to determine the potential of man-made tree cavities for nesting birds. After completing his undergrad he became a participant with AERC for the 2022 field season. In 2023, he spent the field season on the Situk River working with Alaska Department of Fish & Game on a weir conducting samples and escapement counts of Steelhead and Salmon. He rejoined AERC as a research tech in July 2024 to assist with various projects.

 

John Naumann
Photo of John Naumann
Research Technician
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email: jnaumann@alaska.edu

Like many children raised in Anchorage, the urge to leave and live in the Lower 48 prompted John Naumann to move to Seattle, Philadelphia and Chicago (with some brief international travel in-between).  Aside from Washington State, he found that no other place compared to Alaska and its terrain and people. COVID and isolation presented an opportunity to not return home to Alaska, and also to continue pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biology at University of Alaska Anchorage that had been put on hold for so long.  The opportunity to join a team of AERC researchers working on salmon and environmental field work was a dream come true.  John is excited about further exploring the Last Frontier and being part of a community of like-minded people passionate about the sciences, while hoping to make a positive impact for Alaska’s future.

Amber Perry
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Research Technician
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email: aperry28@alaska.edu
Amber Perry joined AERC in 2024. She graduated from University of Alaska Anchorage with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and a minor in Cultural and Natural Resource Management. As an undergraduate, she worked with UAA’s Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) on the Anchorage Wellness Initiative project, interned with the Alaska Journal of Anthropology, and served as an officer in UAA’s Anthropology Club. She brings skills in ArcGIS, ethnobotanical research, and zooarchaeology to the Center.

 

Jonathan Humpal
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Research Technician
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email: jhumpal@alaska.edu
Jonathan Humpal grew up in central California just outside of Yosemite National Park. The Sierra Nevada mountains are where his love for the outdoors began. After graduating high school, Jonathan spent 4.5 years in the United States Marine Corps conducting artillery surveys in the mountain ranges of several different countries. After finishing his contract with the Marines, Jonathan moved to Anchorage, Alaska. Jonathan attends the University of Alaska Anchorage where he studies aviation technology, and natural sciences. He joined the Applied Environmental Research Center as a participant in May of 2024 and now works as a research technician. Jonathan has experience in wolf, moose, and salmon ecology; wetland plant identification; land navigation and route planning; and meteorology.
 

Communications

Jeffrey Kee
Photo of Jeffrey Kee
Research Communications Specialist and Media Professional
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email: jakee@alaska.edu
Jeffrey Kee is a Communications Specialist for UAA’s Business Enterprise Institute, who contributes to serve the mission of the Applied Environmental Awareness Center and ADAC-ARCTIC. Jeff has also worked in media production since 2013 and has been involved in almost every stage of production. He has a B.A. in Digital Media from Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio and prior to working at UAA, he gained considerable media experience as a media specialist at KYUR Channel 13, Coastal Television Broadcasting Company. This background has given him a wide range of skills to pull from in order to complete the various projects for AERC and other UAA media needs. His regular production tasks include creating multiple media and communication products, ranging from video, animation, web, print, product design, and much more.
Joey Besl
Photo of Joey Besl
Research Communications Specialist and Media Professional
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:  
Email: jbesl@alaska.edu

Joey joined AERC in 2023. He previously worked in UAA's Advancement office as a writer and served as interim director of communication and marketing at Alaska Pacific University. He was selected for a climate journalism fellowship by the National Press Foundation in 2021 and an ocean science journalism fellowship from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 2022. He has a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from the College of Wooster and a master’s in water security from University of Saskatchewan.

Lindsy Glick
Photo of Lindsy Glick
Research Communications Specialist and Media Professional
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone: 907-786-1679
Email: lglick@alaska.edu
Lindsy Glick serves as a Research Communications Specialist and Media Professional for AERC. She joined the team in May 2023. Glick also works closely with ADAC-ARCTIC and it's partners, such as the US Coast Guard, creating products and designs for Alaska’s Oil and Chemical Spill Planning Committees. Prior to joining the Center, she worked as a Title IX and Civil Rights Investigator in Alaska and Idaho. Glick has also experienced Alaska through work in Denali National Park and Preserve, as well as a charter fishing vessel in Seward. She holds a BA in Spanish and an MA in Translation and Interpretation Studies.