Course Showcase

Lisa Strecker is a term assistant professor of Ethnobotany and Anthropology at the UAF Kuskokwim Campus and head of the UAF Ethnobotany Program. In addition to the majority of synchronously delivered online courses, Lisa teaches the program’s summer field courses. One of her favorite challenges is how to create a place-based, hands-on and experiential learning experience in an online learning environment.

Frank Boldt is extremely passionate about academics in general, the justice field particularly, and has a deep desire to help students become academically successful and reach their goals. His academic focus is on Justice Theories and Community Restorative Justice practices.

Denise Thorsen, the 2021 Usibelli Award winner in teaching, was in the inaugural teaching spotlight for February. Dr. Thorsen is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and the director of Alaska Space Grant and Alaska NASA EPSCoR programs.

Tyler Kirk is an Assistant Professor of History and the Assistant Director of Arctic and Northern Studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He teaches an array of courses from the introductory Western Civilization to upper-division surveys of European history, to graduate seminars on Arctic and Northern Studies. His current research focuses on Gulag survivors in the Russian Far North. 

Wendy Whitehead Martelle, PhD, is an assistant professor of Applied Linguistics and ESL with the English Department and Linguistics Program. Wendy teaches courses in applied linguistics, English as a Second Language (ESL), and Russian, and has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in face-to-face, hybrid, and synchronous/asynchronous distance settings.

Kate Quick, MFA, has fifteen years of experience teaching developmental and GER writing courses for UAF, most recently for UAF’s Community and Technical College. Kate’s expertise lies in non-fiction writing, and she has publications in state newspapers, the Huffington Post, and various literary journals.

Yelena Mazour-Matusevich has been a French professor at UAF since 1998 and in 2007 she received the Usibelli award for teaching. Since 2015, Yelena has been teaching at the History department as well, and in 2018 obtained a second doctorate in History.

Diane Wagner holds a joint appointment in the Biology & Wildlife Department and the Institute of Arctic Biology. She is an ecologist, with a special interest how insect herbivores affect plant growth and performance. Prof. Wagner teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in biology, and serves as chair of the Biology & Wildlife Department.