Our Team
Our Team
The CRCD is here to serve our students. Our team knows the needs of Alaska’s rural
and Native communities and are ready to assist you in meeting your goals.
There are CRCD employees spread across the state ready to work with you, no matter
where you are.
Leadership

Charlene Stern, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education
302 Signers' Hall
For more information about the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education, visit here.

Jessica C. Black, Ph.D.
Associate Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education
Associate Professor | Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development
For more information about the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education, visit here.

Izzy Martinez
Assistant to the Vice Chancellor
Rural, Community and Native Education
305 Signers' Hall
For more information about the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education, visit here.

Jennifer Adams
Troth Yeddha' Project Manager / RCNE Development Director
Rural, Community and Native Education
For more information about the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education, visit here.
College of Rural and Community Development
Leadership

Bryan Uher
Dean
College of Rural and Community Development
Brooks Building

Lisa Yancey
Academic and Administrative Affairs Manager
College of Rural and Community Development
420 Brooks Building

CRCD Staff

- Manage administrative tasks for a grant awarded to CRCD branch campuses from the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program (ANNH). The primary goal of the grant is to enhance local food and energy security; Indigenous and subsistence knowledge; and stewardship in rural Alaskan communities.
- ANNH website

Grace Carroll
Fiscal Officer
College of Rural and Community Development
gkcarroll@alaska.edu | 907-474-7881
Scott Culbertson
Course and Enrollment Director
College of Rural and Community Development
srculbertson@alaska.edu | 907-474-1916 / Fax: 907-474-6280
Jared Jeffrey
Fiscal Officer
College of Rural and Community Development
jdjeffery@alaska.edu | 907-474-6757
Annastasia Johnson
Administrative Assistant
College of Rural and Community Development
aajohnson15@alaska.edu |
Sherrie Jones
Rural College Office Coordinator
Alaska Native Language Center | Center for Cross Cultural Studies | Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Education
sljones19@alaska.edu | 907-474-5808
Kim Kovacik
CRCD Lead Cashier
College of Rural and Community Development
kjkovacik@alaska.edu | 907-474-5380
- Manages CRCD Accounts Receivable and Cashier Functions
- Bill and Track Student Third Party Billings
- Train and Provide Support to the CRCD Cashiers and Accounts Receivable Staff

Cynthia Martin-Thompson
Registration Specialist
College of Rural and Community Development
cmartinthompson@alaska.edu | 907-474-5397
- Provides support to staff and students during the course registration process

Kacey Miller
Student Services Director
College of Rural and Community Development
klmiller@alaska.edu | 907-443-8451
Suzanne (Suzi) Tanski
Marketing & Communications Manager
College of Rural and Community Development
smtanski@alaska.edu | 907-474-6092Brooks 419

Marchelle Somaduroff
Troth Yeddha' Assistant Project Coordinator
College of Rural and Community Development
masomaduroff2@alaska.edu | 907-474-6729Brooks 416
Chukchi Campus Leadership and Staff

Minnie Naylor is originally from Kotzebue and has family from Noatak and Shishmaref. Minnie graduated from UAF in 2008 with a BA in Rural Development with an emphasis in Community Organizations and Services. In 2022, she earned her MA in Rural Development from the Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development.
Chukchi Campus Faculty
IAC Staff

Julie is Gwich’in and Navajo, originally from Canyon Village/Fort Yukon, Alaska and Shiprock, New Mexico. Julie grew up in Fort Yukon, Arkansas, Texas, and Fairbanks. She is tribally enrolled in Canyon Village/Fort Yukon and is an at-large shareholder of the interior regional Native Corporation Doyon, Limited.
Julie previously worked as the communications manager position for the Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments (CATG), a consortium of tribes based in the Yukon Flats. She previously managed the Native American Career and Technical Education Program grant for CATG since 2018. Before that, she worked for Doyon, Limited for 20 years.
Julie holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from the University of California Santa Barbara and a master’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in capital markets from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Michael Hardy
Center Coordinator
Fort Yukon Center
mhardy1@alaska.edu | 907-662-2521 / fax 907-662-2657
Laurie Trotta
Coordinator
Tribal Governance
ltrotta@alaska.edu | 907-474-5826 / 888-474-5207 (Press 2 and then 6)Personal availability link
Laurie is the "point of contact" for the Tribal Governance Department. She will be
advising any students taking courses in TG and the primary advisor for those working
toward a TG certificate or degree. She will support them with everything from FAFSA
and registration to preparing for graduation and a career. She supports TG faculty
with course materials, events, communications, and a number of other things.
Prior to her position as Coordinator of the Tribal Governance Department, Trotta spent
the last six years working as Coordinator with the Migrant Education Program which
supports students and their families living a subsistence lifestyle, fishing, and
berry picking. Trotta has dedicated her career to education helping students reach
their highest potential by finding the path that best suits them and to the sustainability
of the natural environment.
Trotta started her career as a fish biologist, aquaculturist, and aquatic ecologist before moving on to teach a variety of aquaculture, aquatic science, and renewable resource courses. She also advised an Outdoor Recreation Club for 12 years in which the students did everything from backpacking in the Adirondack Mountains to hiking in Denali National Park to surfing in Costa Rica.
After 22 years of university service at New York State Agriculture and Technology colleges, Trotta moved to Fairbanks, a longtime second home that is now her primary home. She has served on the Board of the Friends of Creamer's Field from 2015 to 2021. In her spare time, she likes to spend time out of doors with her dogs, hiking, paddling, fishing, and berry picking. Indoors, she enjoys cooking, consulting on Epicure, doing yarn crafts, drawing Zentangles, or reading.
IAC Faculty

James (Ryan) Ford
Assistant Professor
Construction Trades Technology
jford23@alaska.edu | 907-474-5958 / 888-474-5207
Kevin Illingworth is a Professor of Tribal Government with the Department of Tribal
Governance at UAF. Kevin was raised in Alaska’s Interior and graduated from North
Pole High School and the University of Alaska Fairbanks before receiving his Law Degree
from the University of Idaho. Prior to joining the University of Alaska Fairbanks
in 2002, Kevin worked for Mentasta Traditional Council and Cheesh’na Tribal Council
on the development of tribal laws, tribal courts, and tribal law enforcement.
At UAF, Kevin primarily teaches courses in topics such as Tribal Government, Federal
Indian Law, Tribal Constitutions and Codes, ICWA, and Child Protection and Tribal
Justice issues. He has extensive experience in curriculum development, assessment,
and instructional technology, primarily focused on adult Indigenous student education,
with a strong commitment to place-based education. Professor Illingworth has presented
at numerous Conferences and Symposiums and has previously served as Interim Dean,
Department Chair, and on many Advisory Boards and Councils.

Anshul Pandya
Assistant Professor
Associate of Science Program
apandya@alaska.edu | 907-474-2748 / 888-474-5207
Carrie Stevens
Associate Professor
Tribal Governance
cmstevens@alaska.edu | 907-474-2616 / 866-474-5710Carrie Stevens’ passionately works for the advancement of Indigenous self-governance
and stewardship. She serves as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of
Tribal Governance at the College of Rural and Community Development, University of
Alaska Fairbanks.
Stevens has 22 years of experience in designing and delivering place-based educational
programs to advance Indigenous self-governance, tribal sovereignty, and stewardship
through partnerships with tribal governments, communities, and peoples. Carrie serves as the
PI of the USDA funded Alaska Native Food and Energy Sovereignty award for the College
of Rural and Community Development, a collaboration enhancing educational equity to
build Indigenous leadership for community food and energy security.
Stevens served as lead negotiator for tribal self-governance negotiations between
the Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments and the USFWS and the BLM. She is active in advocacy and organizing efforts for the protection of Alaska Native
hunting and fishing rights and traditional ways of life. She holds a Master of International and Intercultural Management.
She is married to Ben Stevens, Dinyee Hutanne, Koyukon Athabascan from Stevens Village
Alaska, with whom she raises her son Alexander. They enjoy being on the river and
in the village when they are not at their desks working on behalf of Alaska Natives.
KuC Staff


John John
Sackett Hall Resident Director
jjohn15@alaska.edu | 907-543-4566 or cell 907-545-2376Sackett Hall

Marybeth Whalen
Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center Manager
mrwhalen@alaska.edu | 907-543-4538Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center
KuC Faculty

Kelechuckwu "KC" Alu
Associate Professor of Developmental Math
kalu@alaska.edu | 907-543-4525Room 116

Diane McEachern
Associate Professor of HUMS/RHS and Coordinator of KuC Behavior Health
dmmceachern@alaska.edu | 907-543-4597Room 117

Sally Samson
Assistant Professor of Yup’ik Language and Culture
spsamson@alaska.edu | 907-543-4530Room 101

Lisa Strecker
Assistant Professor of Anthropology/Ethnobotany
lstrecker@alaska.edu | 907-699-6414Healy

Jacqueline Tagaban
Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education
jctagaban@alaska.edu | 907-543-4555Room 113/Juneau
NWC Staff


Gwendalyn Manniq Trigg-Stettenbenz
Admissions and Records Coordinator
gltriggkomakhuk@alaska.edu | 907-443-8403NWC Faculty

Ryan Ford
Construction Trades Technology Program
jford23@alaska.edu | 907-223-1287Construction Trades Technology program
Jackie Hrabok
Cooperative Extension and High Latitude Range Management
jhrabok@alaska.edu | 907-434-2906Cooperative Extension Program