The Team

jmrobertson3@alaska.edu 

Lab Co-Director

Research Associate Professor of Boreal Forest Ecology 

Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension (IANRE)

Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES) 

Co-founder of Alaska Voices with Dr. Bob Bolton (ORNL)

CV

Education

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 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 tree pathogens, winter and summer drought and warming, longer growing seasons, and shifts in tree species composition 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 employee wellness efforts in a meaningful way.

Lab Co-Director

Research Professional

Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES) in IANRE

mrober57@alaska.edu

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.​

Research Technician

Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES) in IANRE​

sldempster@alaska.edu

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.

Research Technician

Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES) in IANRE

kmmahon@alaska.edu

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.

Research Technician

Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES) in IANRE

​fmroth@alaska.edu

B.A. in Mathematics, Yale University

Faren joined the lab in the summer of 2024 as a research technician. She moved to Alaska through the Alaska Fellows Program and has loved getting to explore the nature up here, both through work and on her own. Before joining the lab, she worked at The Folk School, Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County, and some math research REUs. Her academic interests are primarily in linguistics and communication disorders, but she's been enjoying expanding her knowledge about forestry!