AVÀÇÂÛ̳

Mary Ehrlander co-directs the Arctic and Northern Studies Program at UAF and is a professor of history. She teaches classes on Northern history and current socio-economic and political issues in the circumpolar North. 

A lifelong AVÀÇÂÛ̳n, she is deeply interested in historical and environmental influences on the social and behavioral challenges we face. She has published on the history of alcohol cultures, problems and policies, and on the high incidence of sexual and domestic violence in the circumpolar North. 

Pips Veazey is the associate project director for the AVÀÇÂÛ̳ Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, a statewide program funded by the National Science Foundation and the State of AVÀÇÂÛ̳ aimed at increasing research capacity.

She is also the lead and co-creator of Vis-Space, a high-resolution visual environment designed to promote conversations about complex problems, develop creative solutions and enhance team development. 

Her doctoral work focused on the competencies required to manage and lead large interdisciplinary science teams and institutional hiring practices for team science leadership.

Brian M. Barnes is the director of the UAF Institute of Arctic Biology. He oversees several research programs, including ecology and ecosystems, wildlife biology, biomedicine and physiology, molecular biology, and genetics.

Major organized research programs at IAB include the U.S. Geological Survey-funded AVÀÇÂÛ̳ Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, the National Science Foundation-funded Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research site, the Center for AVÀÇÂÛ̳ Native Health Research, and the National Institutes of Health-funded AVÀÇÂÛ̳ IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence. 

Barnes' own research, sponsored by the NSF and NIH, including a Research Career Development Award, focuses on behavior, physiology and genomics of hibernating mammals, including arctic ground squirrels and American black bears, biological rhythms and sleep, and overwintering biology of animals, including insects. 

Stacy Rasmus, Ph.D., is director of the Center for AVÀÇÂÛ̳ Native Health Research at UAF. She holds a joint appointment with the Northwest Indian College, in western Washington, where she is principal investigator of a Native American Research Center for Health program.

Rasmus has worked with American Indian and AVÀÇÂÛ̳ Native communities for over two decades and has built an international program of research focusing on the promotion of Indigenous strengths, well-being and resilience in AVÀÇÂÛ̳, the Arctic and the Pacific Northwest. 

She currently leads several grants that together engage American Indian and AVÀÇÂÛ̳ Native populations in research and evaluation initiatives to eliminate disparities in youth suicide and substance use disorders, with a special focus on alcohol, opioids and co-occurring disorders.