Principal Investigator

Dr. Glass is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. She is also a Research Associate at the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity in Makhanda (Grahamstown) South Africa and a Fellow of The Explorers Club.

In her free time, Jessica enjoys traveling, skiing, camping, and trail runs with her dog, Maloti.

Please get in touch if you are interested in joining my lab in Fairbanks, Alaska!

Postdoctoral Fellow

Yin is a dedicated bioinformatician and UAF postdoctoral fellow working in the evolution of cold-tolerance in marine invertebrates, through studying ice-binding proteins (IBPs). Her project focuses on detecting IBP production and mapping their distribution in Arctic and subarctic intertidal invertebrates, specifically echinoderms. Yin earned her PhD in bioinformatics at UiT the Arctic University of Norway, in the field of protein bioinformatics, developing and applying computational techniques to analyze evolution and co-evolution of protein-protein interactions for the prediction of interaction sites.

Yin’s interdisciplinary experience spans computational biology, plant ribosome physiology, environmental microbiology, and human protein biology, supported by roles in both research and teaching. She is passionate about harnessing informatics to address complex biological challenges and is dedicated to sharing her expertise through mentoring students and leading training workshops. In her free time, Yin is an avid trail runner, and climber. In addition to being on land, she loves to be on, in, and under water.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Laura Timm's research interests center on describing the state and flux of genetic diversity and the ways that this information can be used to improve our understanding of species health and stability. She earned her PhD and Masters in Biology at Florida International University, researching phylogenetics and population genetics of crustaceans in the Gulf of Mexico, including giant deep-sea isopods, penaeid shrimp, and midwater decapods. She is now a postdoctoral research fellow focused on developing population genomic approaches to fisheries management. Since moving to Alaska, she has designed a bioinformatic pipeline for generating basic population genomics results from whole genome resequencing data. She has used this tool to investigate population genetic structure in sablefish and an array of rockfish species. Currently, she is investigating population structure in Pacific cod and Pacific herring.

Laura enjoys hiking, recreational media theory (esp. horror), and doing all the voices while reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?".

PhD Student, Fisheries

Rachel Lekanoff earned her MS in Oceanography at UAF and her BS in Environmental Science at Western Washington University. She is now a graduate student at UAF CFOS (again!) as a Tamamta fellow pursuing a PhD in Fisheries. In addition to school, she works for the Northern Latitudes Partnerships’ Aleutian Bering Sea Initiative as their Research Coordinator. Through both school and her job, she works closely with Tribal communities on climate resilience, mariculture, and co-production research projects.

Outside of work and school, Rachel is an avid cyclist and cross-country skier and is frequently on the incredible trail networks in and around Anchorage.

PhD Student, Fisheries

Originally from Utah, Tanner recently graduated with a BS in Bioinformatics and a minor in Statistics from BYU. Throughout his PhD, he plans to focus on using population genomics and phylogenetics to influence fisheries management and contribute to a greater understanding of evolutionary processes. In his free time, he enjoys fly fishing, skiing, hiking, and cooking.

MS Student, Fisheries

Maris is a member of the NSF EPSCoR Fire and Ice Coastal Margins team. She uses eDNA metabarcoding to study the community composition of estuarine sites with varying degrees of glacial influence in Lynn Canal and Kachemak Bay, Alaska. In her free time, Maris enjoys rock climbing, hiking with her dog Willow, and reading books!

Undergraduate, Fisheries

Rory is an undergrad at the University of Alaska Fairbanks pursuing a B.S. in Fisheries and Marine Sciences and a minor in Military Science and Leadership. Originally from New Mexico, she is looking forward to taking advantage of the unique research and outdoor opportunities that Alaska provides. She is hoping to learn more about genetics and fisheries while working in the lab. In her free time she enjoys reading, knitting, running, and spending time in nature.