The Team
Our Research Team
Dr. Jessie Young-Robertson
Lab Co-Director
Research Associate Professor of Boreal Forest Ecology in the Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension (IANRE)
Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES) research unit leader
Co-founder of Alaska Voices with Dr. Bob Bolton (ORNL)
B.S. Biology, Fort Lewis College, Summa cum laude, Valedictorian
M.S. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona
Ph.D. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Minor Global Change, University of Arizona
M.Ed. Clinical Mental Health Counseling, University of Alaska Fairbanks
I study the ecophysiological and ecohydrological responses of ecosystem carbon and water cycling processes to climate and environmental change. My research since 2008 has focused on boreal and arctic (to a lesser extent) ecosystem dynamics, including vegetation water use, stress, and productivity. I seek to understand how increased deciduous cover in the boreal forest, including shrub encroachment, will change the cycling of water and carbon.
Click here for info on my dissertation & postdoctoral research
I am also a Master's level counselor part-time at Turning Point Counseling in Fairbanks, Alaska. My mental health knowledge helps me contribute to UAF DEIA efforts in a meaningful way, including contributing to understanding psychologically inclusive approaches in STEM fields.
Matt Robertson
Lab Co-Director
Research Professional
Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES) in IANRE
B.S. Biology, University of New Orleans
Matt has worked at UAF in the Forest Soils Lab since 2008. He's the lead research technician, and he has a myriad of things he does, including operating and maintaining lab analytical equipment, engineering new research and sensor solutions, programming and troubleshooting dataloggers, installing and managing multiple research sites, data management, and maintaining vehicles (ATV's, snowmachines, lab vehicle). He utilizes 3-D printing to develop novel solutions for sensor installations and housings. Matt is also a licensed UAV pilot and am developing skills in processing and managing data collected with UAV sensors.
Sam Dempster
Research Technician
Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES) in IANRE
Kat Mahon
B.S. Biology in progress, University of Alaska
Sam worked for Young-Robertson 10 years ago, and re-joined the lab in 2021. He primarily works as a field technician on the Forest Health Project. Sam is learning to operate the mass spectrometer and conduct other lab analyses. Sam has mastered the tall pole pruner to access Aspen canopies.
B.S. in Ecology for Environmental Science, University of North Texas
Kat joined the lab in 2024, with previous experience in botany/plant physiology as a seasonal hire for NEON in Alaska, and invertebrate freshwater ecology fieldwork as part of an exchange program in Puerto Williams, Chile. Her fields of interest are natural resource management, environmental engineering, and remote sensing, with future academic endeavors to obtain a GIS certification and master's degree focused in one of her fields of interest.
Faren Roth
Research Technician
Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES) in IANRE
