Department Staff
Derek S. Sikes
Curator of Insects / Professor of Entomology
University of Alaska Museum
1962 Yukon Dr.
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775
email: dssikes 'at' alaska.edu
phone: 474-6278
fax: 474-5469
Google Scholar profile
Derek Sikes was hired as the curator of insects at the University of Alaska Museum
in July 2006. He is an advocate of the study and protection of arthropod, specifically
beetle, biodiversity. His early training included large-scale beetle inventory and
community ecology projects in addition to traditional alpha taxonomy and morphological
based phylogenetics. He has since combined traditional with modern molecular phylogenetic
approaches and has happily dived into the work of documenting the (non-marine) Arthropod fauna of Alaska.
Adam Haberski
UAM Insect Collection Graduate Student
University of Alaska Museum
1962 Yukon Dr.
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775
ahaberski 'at'gmail.com
Adam Haberski began his MS program in the fall of 2017 and completed an ecological project examining beetle, spider, and bee communities in forest, shrub, and tundra habitats along an elevational gradient in Denali National Park. He finished his MS degree in 2019.
Logan Mullen
UAM Insect Collection Graduate Student (graduated Summer 2017)
University of Alaska Museum
1962 Yukon Dr.
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775
ljmullen2 'at' alaska.edu
Logan began his MS graduate program in the fall of 2013 and conducted a taxonomic revision of the beetle genus Phlaeopterus (Staphylinidae: Omaliinae). He has published the firist chapter describing species with an identification key. His second chapter which estimates the phylogeny of the genus using both morphology and molecular data should appear in 2020.
Kathryn Daly
UAM Insect Collection Graduate Student (Graduated Fall 2018)
University of Alaska Museum
1962 Yukon Dr.
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775
kmdaly 'at' alaska.edu
Kathryn Daly began her work in the UA Museum as a lab technician working on the K.W. Philip Butterfly collection in 2014 with funding from the National Park Service. She began her MS thesis research on Alaskan butterflies Fall Semester 2015. Her thesis research focused on an examination of the historical data in Alaska's butterfly fauna to assess if there is a climate change signal related to body size and phenology. Kathryn has also taken up the torch after Kenelm Philip's passing and started a mailing list (URI below) for the Alaska Lepidoptera Club, a continuation of Ken Philip’s work on the Alaska Lepidoptera Survey.
https://lists.alaska.edu/mailman/listinfo/uaf-alaskalepidoptera-club
Jill Stockbridge
UAM Insect Collection Graduate Student (graduated Fall 2014)
University of Alaska Museum
1962 Yukon Dr.
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775
jmstockbridge 'at' alaska.edu
Jill Stockbridge became interested in entomology in her last semester as an undergraduate in 2009 when she attended Dr. Derek Sikes' entomology course. She worked as a lab technician in Dr. Sikes' lab for one year before pursuing a MS degree in Biology. Jill's MS project consists of researching the effects of different forestry thinning practices on the biodiversity of beetles and spiders on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. She will also be providing a baseline inventory of the beetles and spiders on Prince of Wales Island, contributing to Alaska's growing invertebrate check-list. Jill graduated with her MS in Aug 2014.
Brandi Fleshman
UAM Insect Collection Graduate Student (former)
University of Alaska Museum
1962 Yukon Dr.
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775
bfleshman2 'at' alaska.edu
EPSCoR Undergraduate Research Award, summer 2007 and Independent Research (1 term)
student The Spider Fauna of Alaska. Summer 2007+. Brandi started the MS program in
the spring of 2009 and in addition to finishing her work with updating the spider
checklist for the state she is focusing on the spider fauna of Conservation Reserve
Program lands in Delta Junction, Alaska, comparing spiders of older with younger plots.
Brandi began work in the UAM Insect lab as a volunteer auto-montage photographer.
She has since begun work on updating the checklist of Alaskan spiders.
Kenelm W. Philip
UAM Insect Collection Research Associate (1971-2014)
1590 North Becker Ridge Road
Fairbanks, AK 99709-2705
Ken worked on the butterfly fauna of Alaska and the circumpolar north since the 1966.
Ken founded the Alaska Lepidoptera Survey in 1970 and ran it until his untimely death
in 2014. The ALS collection is the second largest North American arctic butterfly
collection in the world (behind the CNC). His field guide to the Alaskan butteflies
is now in its second edition. Ken passed away 13 March 2014 but his scientific legacy
survives in the form of his collection and photographs. A nice write up on him is
here. A website showcasing the pinned specimens of Ken's collection for educational, historical, and scientific use, was launched in 2019.
James J. Kruse
UAM Insect Collection Research Affiliate
USDA Forest Service
Leader and Supervisory Entomologist
Lakewood Service Center
State & Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection
Forest Service
Rocky Mountain Region
740 Simms Street
Golden, CO 80401
jkruse 'at' fs.fed.us
Jim was formerly the Curator of Entomology at UAM (2000-2003). Currently, Jim works as the Leader and Supervisory Entomologist for the USDA Forest Service, State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection unit in Golden, CO. He is trained in traditional taxonomy as well as morphological and molecular phylogenetics of the Lepidoptera. Current interests include all defoliating insects, particularly invasive and cyclical outbreak species, and especially the lepidopteran family Tortricidae.
Jozef Slowik
UAM Insect Collection Research Affiliate
University of Alaska Museum
1962 Yukon Dr.
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775
slowspider 'at' gmail.com
Joey Slowik began work as a graduate student in the MS program in the Fall of 2008. He worked as a curatorial assistant in the Arachnid Collection under Dr. Paula Cushing of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science from 2004-2007. Joey's focus is on spider taxonomy, life history, faunistics, and phylogeny, specifically the spider families Linyphiidae and Lycosidae. Joey completed his MS degree on a species group in the genus Pardosa in the summer of 2011.
Steve Peek
UAM Insect Collection Research Affiliate
University of Alaska Museum
1962 Yukon Dr.
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775
stevepeek 'at' att.net
Steve Peek has a MS degree in Aquatic Ecology and a passion for flies. He began volunteering in the insect collection identifying flies in 2009. During the summer 2011 he joined Sayde Ridling (undergraduate lab tech) on an expedition to sample insects on islands near Kasatochi volcano in the Aleutians.
Jessica Rykken
UAM Insect Collection Research Affiliate
Entomologist
Denali National Park and Preserve
PO Box 9
Denali Park AK 99755
jessica_rykken 'at' nps.gov
Dr. Rykken has been conducting pollinator surveys in Alaskan National Parks since 2012 and has contributed over 40,000 identified and prepared bees and flower flies to the University of Alaska Museum Insect Collection.
Laboratory Technicians
Andrea Neighbors May-Aug 2007
Brandi Fleshman Jun 2007 - Mar 2010
Candice Flint Sep-Dec 2007
Katelyn McDonald Apr-Jul 2008
Laura Lund May-Nov 2008
Carolene Coon May 2008 - May 2011, Sept 2018 - April 2019
Tamara Sayre Jul-Dec 2008
Sayde Ridling May-Aug 2009; Jun 2010 - 2013
Jill Stockbridge May-2009 - Jun 2010 (MS student, graduated 2014)
Kelly C. May May 2009 - Aug 2011
Casey Bickford Jan 2010 - Jan 2013
Cassidy Scholar Jun - Oct 2010
Sarah Huguet Jun 2010 - Apr 2011
Whitney Junker Jun - Aug 2011
Sarah Meierotto Apr - Aug 2011, 2013 - 2015 (Completed her MS degree,
U. KY)
Mary Wyatt Dec 2011 - Apr 2020
Trista Saunders Sep 2012 - Jun 2013
Miles McHugh July - Sep 2013; June 2014 - Aug 2017
Samantha Burd Feb 2013 - Dec 2014
Jayce Williamson Sep 2013 - present
Ian MacDougall July 2013 - May 2014
Nolan Rappa Oct 2013 - Sep 2014 (completed entomology graduate
degree at University of Bremen, Germany)
Lacey Broskey Sep 2013 - May 2016
Marisol Bastiani Jan 2014 - Jun 2014
Jennifer MacDougall Jun 2014 - Sep 2014
Kathryn Daly Jun 2014 - 2015 (Completed her MS degree 2018)
Adam Haberski Jan 2015 - 2017 (Completed his MS degree 2019)
Renee Nowicki July2016 - present
Tazheem Rubio Sep 2016 - Apr 2018
Rob Stewart-Rogers Oct 2016 - May 2017
Isaac Davis May 2017
Zachary Snelson May 2017 - Jun 2019
Karissa Amador Sep 2017 - Dec 2018
Alan Roos Oct 2017 - May 2019
Emily VanNortwick Jun - July 2018
Dana Brennan Jan 2019 - May 2019, Jan 2020 - April 2020
Michael Apperson July 2019 - Apr 2020
Duncan Ziegler Aug 2019 - Jul 2020
Taylor Kane Sep 2019 - Aug 2020 (started MS degree Sep 2020)
Entomology Volunteers
Brandi Fleshman Nov-Dec 2006
Tommy Woolf Dec 2006 - Mar 2007
Bethany Sweet Mar-May 2007, May-Aug 2008
Candice Flint Mar-Apr 2007
Kennan Jeannet Apr-May 2007
Casey Reilly May - Aug 2007
Katelyn McDonald Oct 2007 - May 2008
Kevin Wakeman Feb - Mar 2008
Melissa Deiman Feb-Mar 2008
Holly Midkiff Mar-May 2008
Kelly May Jul 2008 - May 2009
Tim Bouta Dec 2008
Sayde Ridling Jan - Apr 2009
Steve Peek Jan 2009 - present
Krystal Osborne Nov 2009 - Apr 2010
Mary Wyatt Aug 2009 - Dec 2011
Genevieve Henry Nov 2009 - Mar 2010
Jackson Drew Feb - Apr 2010
Alexis Bystedt Jun - Jul 2010
Kate Schroeder Jan -Apr 2011
Brandon Emmett Jan 2012 - May 2012
Ian MacDougall Feb 2012 - May 2012
Isaac Morgan Feb 2014 - Aug 2014
Adam Haberski June 2014 - Dec 2014
Addie Willsrud Jan 2015 - May 2015
Allie Eby Jan 2015 - May 2015 (MRAP)
Renee Nowicki Jan 2015 - June 2016
Emily Smith Sep 2015 - Dec 2016
Rob Stewart-Rogers Sep 2015 - Jun 2016
Tazheem Rubio Sep 2015 - Jun 2016
Zachary Snelson Oct 2015 - May 2016
Kelvin Chen Jul - Aug 2016
Sarah Holm Sept 2017 - Apr 2018
Megan Booysen Sep 2017 - Apr 2018 (& BugCamp assistant, 2017, 2015, 2014)
Chris Greenfield-Pastro Dec 2017 - Apr 2020
Elizabeth Beks Sep 2018 - Apr 2020