UAA graduate and undergraduate student researchers secure competitive Center for Global Change funding

Five UAA students received funding from the Center for Global Change and Arctic System Research for studies in Alaska ranging from ground squirrel gut microbial physiology to wolf feeding ecology in the Lake Clark region.

Each year, the Global Change Student Research Grant Competition is held for research funds supplied by UAA and UAF for global climate change studies. This year 78 applications were received and 16 awards were made. The collaborative UAA-UAF fellowship program administered by the UAF Center for Global Change has supported a total of 17 UAA fellowships over the past three years. The average award size is approximately $9,000.

Congratulations to the following UAA awardees:

Undergraduate

Brian Quinlan, Department of Biological Sciences, UAA
"Dynamics of gut microbiota in juvenile arctic ground squirrels"
Advisors: Duddleson & Buck

Graduate

Lauren Caruso -- M.S., ENRI & Department of Biological Sciences, UAA
"Understanding moose foraging behavior in response to changes in the structure and composition of food types"
Major Professor: Spalinger

Emily Lescak -- Ph.D., ENRI & Department of Biological Sciences, UAA
"Genomic evolution in 45 year old populations of threespine stickleback"
Major Professor: VonHippel

Aliza Segal -- M.S., ENRI & Department of Biological Sciences, UAA
"Partitioning ecosystem respiration in an arctic ecosystem to more accurately forecast changes in the carbon cycle"
Major Professor: Sullivan

Ashley Stanek -- M.S., ENRI & Department of Biological Sciences, UAA
"Cascading effects of climate phases on the feeding ecology of gray wolves (Canis lupus) of southwest Alaska"
Major Professor: Welker