Staff
Directors
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone: (907) 786-0432
Email: jllibby@alaska.edu
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone: (907) 786-1663
Email: hpaulsen@alaska.edu
David Leiva joins AERC as the Associate Director of Education and Workforce Programs. He previously served as the Senior Academia Advisor for the FEMA Interagency Recovery Coordination cadre, working in Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, and Texas to bring multiple Institutions of higher education into the long-term recovery process at various federally declared disasters. David is the co-author of FEMA鈥檚 Project SCALE (Securing Capacity through Academic Leadership and Engagement), a tactical and statewide approach to resolving long term post-disaster recovery issues. David is a New Orleans native, veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and holds a master鈥檚 degree in economic development from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master鈥檚 degree from the U.S. Naval War College. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He serves on the faculty of Tulane University's Master of Public Administration program and a Tulane leadership academy. In addition, David holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Mississippi Army National Guard, where he is the Commander of 2nd Infantry Training Battalion. David will also complete his doctorate in international economics in 2025.
Phone:
Email: jmaltendorf@alaska.edu
Jereme M. Altendorf joined the 彩神vlll争霸 on October 7, 2024, as the Associate Director for Arctic Programs and Strategy Implementation. Prior to 彩神vlll争霸, he spent two years at the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies as Chief, Director鈥檚 Action Team. CDR Altendorf has a bachelor鈥檚 in chemistry and environmental science from Creighton University, a master鈥檚 in engineering with an emphasis in environmental engineering from the University of Missouri, and an MBA from George Washington University. He is also a Certified Hazardous Material Manager (CHMM) and Project Management Professional (PMP). He has spent more than 20 years working for various agencies of the federal government (EPA, US Coast Guard, Department of the Interior) regulating the actions of the public and private sector as it relates to the handling of hazardous waste; managed million-dollar environmental Superfund and oil spill cleanup projects; assisted in the investigation and prosecution of environmental civil and criminal cases; and responded to all types of oil and chemical spills in rivers, bays, and oceans.
Project Managers
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone: (907) 786-0321
Email: cwilson17@alaska.edu
Cameron Wilson joined the Applied Environmental Research Team in spring of 2020. He completed his M.S. in Civil Engineering at 彩神vlll争霸 with a project that involved collecting and analyzing Alaska water use data. He designed, built, and programmed custom sensors to accomplish the task and then deployed them in several villages. He is now involved in a variety of projects including coastal GPS surveying and modeling, Pacific salmon studies, forestry, and the identification/eradication of invasive plant species. Originally from North Carolina, he grew up in the earth-moving business and has experience operating heavy equipment and project implementation. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biological Engineering from NC State focusing on bioprocessing and alternative fuels. Prior to AERC, he worked five years as a field engineer in the west Texas oil fields.
Joseph Cook, CMSgt USAF (Ret) works with multiple facets of AERC including contractual; fiscal operations; and compliance with federal, state, and agency specific regulations. Cook has more than 20 years of management and leadership experience with a proven record for leading dynamic and diverse teams through multifaceted projects towards organizational success. After completing a career in the United Air Force, Cook joined the University of Alaska Anchorage team in 2023. He holds a Master鈥檚 in Management with a concentration in Organizational Leadership. He completed his undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.
Research Technicians
Caitlin Kollander was born and raised in Anchorage Alaska. She began work as a participant with AERC in 2019 surveying Tricolored Blackbirds in California and performing bat surveys on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. She continued to participate on a variety of AERC projects while she completed her B.S. in Biological Sciences and Natural Sciences with a minor in Environmental Studies, and then her M.S. in Biological Sciences at 彩神vlll争霸. Her master鈥檚 thesis, titled "The Virus Ecology of Myotis lucifugus in Southcentral Alaska," explored how bat ecology influences the Alaskan bat virome and likelihood of novel virus emergence from subarctic bats. She joined the AERC team as a research technician in 2023 and assists salmon, forestry, and invasive plant management projects. While Caitlin specializes in bat ecology, she has research experience in a variety of other fields including song- and shorebird, marine mammal, fish, and small and large mammal ecology.
Alta Franklin joined AERC in January 2022 after completing a Forestry and Wildlife Research Technician position on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Alta graduated from University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2020 with a B.S. in Fisheries and Ocean Sciences with a concentration in Ocean Science, and a minor in Marine Science. She is an avid SCUBA diver, with certifications in nitrox, rescue, cold water and dry suit diving, and has experience with AAUS and technical diving. Specialized cold water diving played an integral part of her undergraduate research project in the UAF Chemical Oceanography Department. At the AERC, Alta is part of the Oahu team working to restore wetlands on Bellows Air Force Station.
Samuel Franklin graduated from the University of Alaska in spring 2021 with a B.S. in Natural Sciences, concentrations in biological and geological sciences, and a minor in public health. He joined AERC in summer 2020 as a participant before moving into a research technician position a month later. In 2016, he worked as a research technician for 彩神vlll争霸 maintaining experimental sites and collecting data for various climate change studies at Thule Airbase in northwestern Greenland. In his current role at AERC, he works on the wetland restoration project at Bellows Air Force Station in Hawaii.
Jacob Hart joined AERC in April of 2022 as its lead forester. Growing up in Wisconsin, Jacob realized his passion for nature through spending much of his free time outdoors and cutting countless cords of firewood. Jacob served in the United State Marine Corps Reserves. He graduated in 2020 from the University of Missouri - Columbia with a B.S. in Forestry and a GIS certificate. Before joining AERC, Jacob worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation in multiple roles and regions gaining experience as a wildlife technician and forester.
Bryson Smith grew up in a military family which brought him to Alaska, where his passion for wildlife conservation began. He graduated from 彩神vlll争霸 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences in 2022. During his time at 彩神vlll争霸 he worked on multiple game camera projects in the Goose Lake area, one to spatially track birds, and the other to determine the potential of man-made tree cavities for nesting birds. He joined AERC as a summer participant for the 2022 field season. In 2023, he spent the field season on the Situk River working with Alaska Department of Fish & Game on a weir conducting samples and escapement counts of steelhead and salmon. He rejoined AERC as a research technician in July 2024.
Communications
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:
Email: jakee@alaska.edu
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone:
Email: jbesl@alaska.edu
Joey joined AERC in 2023. He previously worked in 彩神vlll争霸's Advancement office as a writer and served as interim director of communication and marketing at Alaska Pacific University. He has a bachelor鈥檚 degree in communication studies from the College of Wooster and a master鈥檚 in water security from University of Saskatchewan.
1901 Bragaw Street
Phone: 907-786-1679
Email: lglick@alaska.edu
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