Our Research Team

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Dr. Devin M. Drown

Assistant Professor

Institute of Arctic Biology Department of Biology and Wildlife University of Alaska Fairbanks

I have pursued a funded research program that is focused on spatially structured host-symbiont interactions. The broader impacts of understanding these selective forces include a better understanding of the pathogen virulence evolution and conditions necessary for disease emergence. My research incorporates fieldwork, molecular analysis, and experimental laboratory research as well as mathematical modeling to study species interactions. My research team has unique expertise to couple molecular characterization of the soil microbial communities. My lab has several years of experience characterizing the impacts of permafrost thaw on microbial communities. We have a well-established field site close to the UAF campus where we have conducted work on the active layer of soil (above the permafrost).

My research team has a commitment to broadening participation in biomedical research. Since becoming a faculty member in January 2015, I have actively engaged students in independent research. I have mentored graduate and undergraduate students with most writing and successfully funding their own independent research. I developed a course on the Human Microbiome where students use genomics tools generate and analyze next-generation sequencing data. In addition, I also use hackathons to enable undergraduates to explore nanopore sequencing technology. In those “hackathons”, we ran our own experiment and learned the basics of genomic data analysis with this sequencing platform.

Tracie Haan

MS Student

Taylor Seitz

MS Student

Jeremy Buttler

PhD Student

Shayna Matson

Undergraduate Student

Margot Chisholm

Undergraduate Student

Lab Alumni

Anne-Lise Ducluzeau

Post-doctoral Researcher

Geneva Mottet

MS Student

Undergraduate students

Kyle Callegari (2019-2020, pursing BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks) – Microbiomes of grass rats to study SAD

Sabrina Bishop (2019-2020, BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks) – 

Samantha Haines (2019-2020, BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks)

Taylor Seitz (2018-2019, BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks, now MS at UAF),

  • 2019 Outstanding Biological Sciences Undergraduate Student at UAF 2018
  • Alaska URSA award, Unearthing a reservoir of antibiotic resistance within Fairbanks permafrost

Jennie Humphrey (2017-2019, BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks) 2017, 2018 Alaska BLaST Scholar

Josette McLean (2018, BS, St. George’s University, Grenada) 2018 Alaska REU Student

Chloe Bryson (2018, pursing BS, Salish Kootenai College) 2018 Alaska BLaST Exchange Student

Scout McDougall (2017-2018, BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks)

Patrick Knavel (2018, BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks)

  • 2018 Alaska URSA Award Understanding the microbiomes of invasive Esox luclus.

Abigail Vandenberg (2018, BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks)

Tracie Haan (2017-2018, BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks, now MS at UAF)

  • Best Undergraduate Talk at 2018 Western Alaska Interdisciplinary Science Conference
  • 2016-2017 Alaska BLaST URE Award Co-Selection of Heavy Metal and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Boreal Forest Soil Microbes Affected by Thawing Permafrost.

Alex Keller (2016-2017, pursing BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks)

  • 2017 Alaska URSA Award Testing the Effects of the Changing pH from Alaskan Microbiome on Subsistence Berries.

Madeline McCarthy (2016-2017, BS, University of Guelph, now MS at University of Saskatchewan)

  • Best Undergraduate Poster at 2017 Midnight Sun Science Symposium.
  • 2016-2017 Alaska BLaST URE Award Comparison of Antibiotic Resistance in Soils from Ancient and Modern Permafrost.
  • 2016 Alaska BLaST URE Award Identification and analysis of antibiotic resistant plasmids in the microbial communities of a Fairbanks permafrost gradient.

Anastasia Butler (2016-2017, BA, University of Alaska Fairbanks)

  • 2016 Alaska URSA Award, Understanding the genetic diversity of Bird Vetch.

Alex Wynne (2016-2017, BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks)

  • 2016 Alaska URSA Award, Does permafrost thaw alter methane cycling via a shift in the microbial community composition?

Patrick Smith (2016, BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks)

Jackson Drew (2015-2016, BS, University of Alaska Fairbanks, now MS at UAF)

  • 2016 Alaska URSA Award, Testing the Effects of the Alaskan Microbiome on a Model Organism: Arabidopsis thaliana