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.

Taylor Kane

UAM Insect Collection Graduate Student (graduated summer 2020)
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 August 2020. He recently published a review of the Orthoptera of Alaska - a project he had begun as an undergraduate.

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 first chapter describing species with an identification key. His second chapter which estimates the phylogeny of the genus using both morphology and molecular data was published in 2021.

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.

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. Jill discovered a new species of Mecoptera, the second for the subfamily Caurininae of the family Boreidae, which she published.

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 working on 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 was focusing on the spider fauna of Conservation Reserve Program lands in Delta Junction, Alaska, comparing spiders of older with younger plots.  Brandi helped with this study on the spider fauna of the Toolik field station in Arctic Alaska.

Kenelm W. Philip

 

UAM Insect Collection Research Associate (1971-2014)


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 and available as a free PDF here. 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. This resulted in two publications - one that synonymized four species and one on the molecular phylogenetics.

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