Information for Prospective Graduate Students

Updated October, 2007

The central focus of my research is the study of the resilience of regional systems in the face of directional changes in climate, economics, and culture. This involves ecological research on post-fire succession and nutrient cycling and collaborative research with social scientists on human-fire interactions and on other aspects of high-latitude sustainability (see research interests). I am particularly interested in working with students that seek to combine natural and social sciences to address issues of sustainability. However, I also co-advise (with other faculty members) students whose research interests are more strictly ecological.

My philosophy of graduate training is that choosing a thesis topic is one of the most important career choices a graduate student makes. Therefore, I encourage students to choose a topic that keenly interests them (as long as it deals with a subject in which I feel I can offer useful advice). Students should take responsibility for the intellectual development of this topic rather than expecting to be “plugged into” an existing research program. At the same time, I enjoy working with students to help them design their thesis research. My students undertake a diverse range of projects, some of them closely related to my interests and some quite different. I encourage my students to collaborate with other students and faculty, and many of my students are co-advised with other faculty in ecology or the social sciences or participate in the Resilience and Adaptation graduate program (RAP). Here are some examples of topics that my current graduate students are studying. Please contact them to find out more about their research and about their perspectives on working with me as an advisor.

Emily Bernhardt (fselb7@uaf.edu; MS student) studies the effects of fire severity on postfire plant community composition, with an emphasis on the effects of fire severity on plant functional diversity.

Todd Brinkman (fttjb2@uaf.edu; PhD RAP student) studies the factors governing deer population dynamics in southeast Alaska, particularly the impact of past and recent logging. He uses molecular methods to document population dynamics and works with indigenous hunters to learn how roads, successional regrowth, and interactions with sport hunters affects their hunting success and connections to the land.

La’ona DeWilde (laona@letsmapalaska.com; PhD RAP student) studies the factors influencing contaminant inputs to rivers and sloughs near Fairbanks and the social processes influencing both inputs and efforts to clean up these water bodies.

Meagan Krupa (ftmnb@uaf.edu; PhD RAP) studies the institutional and ecological factors influencing an iconic salmon fishery in urban Anchorage—especially the institutional factors that have reduced the effectiveness of past efforts to rehabilitate the fishery.

Martin Robards (m.robards@uaf.edu; PhD RAP student): Martin uses metapopulation theory to assess the resilience of human communities in western Alaska through historical time as these are affected by changes in walrus populations. Kinship networks play a key role in the resilience of these communities at times when villages are abandoned, and people move elsewhere.

Sherri Wall (fsslw3@uaf.edu; PhD RAP student): Sherri studies the economic consequences of climate change in Alaska, particularly the economic consequences of climate impacts on oil exploration.

Betsy Young (betsy.young@uaf.edu; MS RAP student): Betsy studies indirect human impacts on wildlife population dynamics, especially the effects of roads on moose populations.