Staff | Alaska Natural Heritage Program

Administration

Keith Boggs

Director | 907-786-6353 | kwboggs@uaa.alaska.edu

Keith Boggs received a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana, and a M.S in Ecology from Montana State University. He is the program manager and an ecologist for the Alaska Natural Heritage Program (AKNHP) at the University of Alaska Anchorage. His main duties are program development, staff supervision and planning and directing research projects. These projects include ecosystem succession, plant association classifications, landcover maps, and ecoregional descriptions.

Theresa Rzeczycki

Program Coordinator | 907-786-6378 | tarzeczycki@uaa.alaska.edu

Theresa Rzeczycki has a BA in English/Business from Ithaca College in NY & London; a BS in Natural Science/Geology from UAA; and is currently working on a MS in Biology at UAA. Her research is focused on invasive plant impacts on nutrient cycling and invasibility. She has worked in the field surveying invasives on roadside & river corridors, and post fire burn areas throughout Alaska, and worked across the arctic on the North Slope Science Initiative Land Cover Mapping Project. While not at work, Theresa stays unplugged & off the radar.

Vegetation Ecology

Tina Boucher

Program Ecologist | 907-786-6384 | tboucher@uaa.alaska.edu

Tina Boucher received a BA in International Relations from Colgate University and an MS in Forest Ecology from Oregon State University. Tina has worked as an ecologist with the Alaska Natural Heritage Program since 2005. She specializes in landscape and plant community classification and has conducted mapping and classification projects across Alaska in partnership with several federal agencies. Tina’s research interests include characterizing the impact of landscape-scale disturbance (fire, spruce beetle, and other insects) on vegetation pattern and succession.

Keith Boggs

Director | 907-786-6353| kwboggs@uaa.alaska.edu

Lindsey Flagstad

Assistant Ecologist | 907-786-6386 | laflagstad@uaa.alaska.edu

Lindsey Flagstad received a B.A. in Geology from The Colorado College and a M.S. in Biology from The University of Alaska Anchorage. Lindsey specializes in vegetation mapping and manages Alaska’s statewide weed database and mapping applications (AKEPIC). Lindsey’s masters’ research addressed the primary succession of plant and soil microorganism communities; her previous work experience includes geotechnical survey, wetland delineation and the NEPA process. While not at work, Lindsey enjoys chasing after her three little munchkins.

Monica McTeague

Ecologist | 907-786-6357 | mlmcteague@uaa.alaska.edu

Monica McTeague has a B.S. in Botany and an M.S. in Environmental Sciences and Policy from Northern Arizona University. She specializes in plant ecology with experience in landscape ecology using remote sensing techniques, vegetation classification, and fluvial geomorphology. She has worked extensively on vegetation mapping projects with the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program. While not at work, she enjoys exploring Alaska with her family, skiing, traveling, reading, gardening, cooking, and eating.

Tina Kuo

Ecology Technician | 907-786-6388 | ttkuo@uaa.alaska.edu

Tina T. Kuo received a BS in Biological Science with minors in Chemistry, Environmental Studies, and a certificate in Geographic Information System from The University of Alaska Anchorage. Tina specializes in working with ArcGIS, spatial analysis, land information system, and sustainability concepts. She worked on GIS projects on mapping the hunger, poverty and unmet food need in Alaska and Anchorage for the Food Bank of Alaska, mapping physical characteristic of Cook Inlet basin, working with ecological survey data in Access, accuracy assessment, and multivariate regression. While not at work, Tina enjoys studying the behavior of social insects, thermology, and astronomy.

Megumi Aisu

Ecology student intern | maisu@alaska.edu

Megumi Aisu received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Chinese Philosophy from Hokkaido University in Japan and is currently working on a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Environment & Society at UAA. She is working on diagrams and illustrations for various ecological projects, using Microsoft Office, Adobe software (including Illustrator and Photoshop) and Mapping software. Megumi is interested in the concepts of ecology and looking forward to know about it more. When not working, she enjoys playing the cello, hiking, cooking and learning Chinese.

Landscape Ecology

Jamie Trammel

Program Landscape Ecologist | 907-786-4865 | ejtrammell@uaa.alaska.edu

Jamie Trammell received his BA in Biology and Environmental Studies from Western State College of Colorado, an MS in Geography and a PhD in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Nevada, Reno. His specialty is applying Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to complex landscapes, with a focus on socio-ecological interactions and conservation planning. He has extensive experience in modeling past, current and future landscapes at local (wildlife refuge) to regional (northern rivers of Australia) to landscape (southwestern U.S.) scales using remote sensing and GIS. In his free time, Jamie enjoys birdwatching, mountain biking, camping, fishing, and generally exploring the natural world with his family.

Botany

Matt Carlson

Assistant Professor / Program Botanist | 907-786-6390 (AKNHP) / 907-786-1327 (Biology Dept.) | mlcarlson@uaa.alaska.edu

Matt Carlson received a BS in Biology and in Art from the Willamette University and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Matt has worked as a botanist with the Alaska Natural Heritage Program since 2002. He has conducted floristic plant inventories across the state and manages the rare plant and non-native plant databases. Along with students and collaborators, Matt studies the ecology of rare and non-native plants in Alaska and plant evolutionary ecology more generally.

Justin Fulkerson

Assistant Botanist | 907-786-6387| jrfulkerson@uaa.alaska.edu

Justin Fulkerson earned a B.S. in Biology from Humboldt State University and is currently working on a M.S. in Biology studying the ecology and evolution of arctic flowers. Before joining Dr. Carlson’s lab, he was a junior specialist for several years at the University of California at Davis studying plant evolutionary ecology. Justin’s research interests are in plant community ecology, pollination ecology, and conservation of rare plants.

Timm Nawrocki

Research Technician | 907-786-6359 | twnawrocki@uaa.alaska.edu

Timm received a B.S. in Biology from the University of Virginia. He is currently working for the botany program and has previous experience surveying for rare and invasive plants in the Chugach National Forest. When not working, he enjoys telemarking, ice climbing, alpine climbing, exploring glaciers, hiking, backpacking, and making swords and bows and other weird things.

Brian Heitz

Research Technician | 907-786-6332 | bheitz@uaa.alaska.edu

Brian Heitz received a BS degree in Biology from Kent State University. He is a Ph. D. student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, researching the growth and morphology of Hylocomium splendens mosses in relationship to microclimate in arctic tundra, boreal forest and coastal rain forest biomes. He has a background in systematic botany, and has conducted inventories of the bryophytes, fungi and lichens of the Cascade and Siskiyou Mountains of Oregon. His other interests include bicycling, photography, and ocean sports.

Theresa Rzeczycki

Graduate Student | 907-786-6378 | tarzeczycki@uaa.alaska.edu

Laura Schneller

Graduate Student | lcschneller@alaska.edu

Laura received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering and B.A. in Languages from the University of Alaska Anchorage, and is currently working on an M.S. in Biological Sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Her research investigates the impacts of invasive plants on plant-pollinator communities in interior Alaska. Prior to this research, she gained field work experience working with arctic and alpine Alaskan plant ecology.

Casey Greenstein

Research Technician | 907-786-6351 | cbgreenstein@uaa.alaska.edu

Casey received a B.A. in Liberal Studies with concentrations in Biology and Environmental Studies from Green Mountain College in Vermont, and an M.S. in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco. Her background includes horticulture, organic agriculture, habitat restoration, and invasive plant management. At the Alaska Natural Heritage Program, Casey works on a variety of projects with the Botany department.

Zoology

Tracey Gotthardt

Program Zoologist | 907-786-6352 | tagotthardt@uaa.alaska.edu

Tracey Gotthardt received a BS in Biology from Radford University and an M.S in Biology from the University of Alaska. Tracey has been the AKNHP Program Zoologist since 2000 and has a strong commitment to biodiversity conservation. She has designed and conducted surveys in aquatic and terrestrial environments in both remote and urban locations in Alaska, and has studied taxa ranging from seals, seabirds, landbirds, fishes amphibians, invertebrates, and more recently, invasive species. She also has a keen interest in landscape level planning and is currently the coordinator for the Alaska Gap Analysis Project. In her spare time she enjoys any and all activities outdoors, with her adorable son, River, in tow.

Kelly Walton

Assistant Zoologist | 907-786-6349 | kmwalton@uaa.alaska.edu

Kelly Walton has a B.S. in Environmental Biology from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a M.S. in Biology from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She works with GIS and Access to compile information on rare species and to develop methods for ranking invasive species. Kelly has a background in classifying and mapping moose habitat using remote sensing and assisting with nutritional studies on tame moose in Alaska. She also has experience radio-tracking tortoises, trapping lizards, and using dendrochronology to understand the impacts of a forest pest on the growth of New England trees.

Miles Spathelf

Assistant Zoologist | 907-786-6399 | mospathelf@uaa.alaska.edu

Miles Spathelf received a B.S. in Evolution and Ecology from the Ohio State University and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Conservation Biology from the Ohio State University. His work focuses on global biodiversity prioritization using phylogenetic diversity as a key metric. He uses GIS and database programs for mapping and ranking areas of high conservation value. Miles also has experience working with Bald Eagles, Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, and migrants birds while at the Arizona Game and Fish Department. While not at work Miles enjoys backpacking, birding, cooking, and spending time with his wife and pets.

Data Management

Nancy Norvell

Acting Data Manager | 907-786-6385 | nnorvell@uaa.alaska.edu

Nancy Norvell received a BS in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University. She worked in the field biology world before focusing on GIS and databases. Nancy worked in a variety of environments; avian studies on mid- Pacific Ocean islands, vegetation mapping in the Arctic, trapping shrews on the Pribilof Islands to bird-banding in the San Francisco Bay. Horses, gardening, traveling and curiosity about the natural world keep her busy outside of work.

Aquatic Ecology

Dan Rinella

Aquatic Ecologist | 907-786-4963 | djrinella@uaa.alaska.edu

Dan Rinella has a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Management from Lake Superior State University, a M.S. in Biology from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His work focuses on the ecology of Alaska’s fresh water ecosystems, including baseline biological surveys of water bodies throughout the state.

Dan Bogan

Aquatic Ecologist | 907-786-4964 | dlbogan@uaa.alaska.edu

Dan Bogan earned a BA in Botany and a Masters in Environmental Science from Miami University. Dan’s research focuses on biological water quality monitoring using diatom and macroinvertebrate community data. He is also actively involved with watershed and water quality education and committed to forming water quality monitoring partnerships. He also curls, packrafts, kayaks, skis, fishes, hunts, and plays double disc court.

Becky Shaftel

Aquatic Ecologist | 907-786-4965 | rsshaftel@uaa.alaska.edu

Rebecca has a BS in Earth Systems from Stanford University and a MS from Baylor University. She grew up in Anchorage and returned in 2001. Her background includes water quality assessments, wetlands and vegetation mapping, and stream ecology. She is currently researching fish distributions, trends in abundance, and general ecology for projects in Western Alaska and Bristol Bay. She enjoys skiing and hiking.

Dustin Merrigan

Research Technician | 907-786-4965 | dwmerrigan@alaska.edu

Dustin has a B.S. in Environmental Sciences from Alaska Pacific University. He has worked on research projects around the state of Alaska mapping physical habitats, surveying spawning salmon, sampling aquatic macroinvertebrate communities and studying overwintering juvenile coho salmon. Dustin enjoys most activities that are on or near water in either its solid or liquid states.