Arctic Leadership Initiative

Program Leadership

ALI is led by faculty from all three UA universities, with guidance from a steering committee of Alaska leaders in government, Alaska Native organizations, research, and industry. Committee members suggest the questions that become Arctic Challenge Projects, connect project teams with the people and communities their work concerns, and advise on where the program should go next.

ALI's founding President's Arctic Professors, Larry Hinzman (UAF), Jeff Libby (UAA), and Erica Hill (UAS), completed their two-year terms in 2026. Eugenie Euskirchen (UAF), Raghu Srinivasan (UAA), and Eran Hood (UAS) hold the appointments for 2026-2028.

President's Arctic Professors (2026-28)

Eugenie Euskirchen (UAF)

Dr. Eugenie Euskirchen is a Professor in the Department of Biology and Wildlife at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, with affiliations across the Institute of Arctic Biology, the Bonanza Creek LTER, the Toolik Field Station, and EPSCoR. Her research focuses on the ecosystem dynamics of carbon, water, and energy in taiga and tundra ecosystems, including Arctic and boreal CO2 and CH4 flux observations across terrestrial and freshwater systems. She is a long-standing contributor to the international Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment and to permafrost-related Earth system data efforts. Her work informs how a rapidly warming Arctic is reshaping carbon cycling at scales relevant to global climate response.

Faculty page → · LinkedIn

Raghu Srinivasan (UAA)

Dr. Raghu Srinivasan is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Alaska Anchorage. His research centers on the atmospheric corrosion of metallic and advanced materials systems (including light-alloy and composite compatibility, coatings for corrosion protection, and material selection for design and failure analysis), with direct relevance to the durability of Arctic infrastructure under accelerating environmental stress. He brings to ALI a translational perspective at the intersection of materials science, engineering education, and Arctic-region asset stewardship.

Faculty page → · LinkedIn

Eran Hood (UAS)

Dr. Eran Hood is Professor of Environmental Science and Chair of the Natural Sciences Department at the University of Alaska Southeast. His research spans watershed-scale biogeochemistry, nutrient cycling in aquatic systems, alpine hydrology, and snow hydrology and chemistry--with a particular focus on how cryospheric change is reshaping freshwater and coastal systems in Southeast Alaska and the broader north. His work bridges field-based hydrology with regional decision-making around water, fisheries, and infrastructure.

Faculty page → · LinkedIn

Founding President's Arctic Professors (2024-2026)

Dr. Hill is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), and served as program director for Arctic Social Sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF) between 2020 and 2024. She is a broadly trained archaeologist with research interests in many parts of the world including the Arctic. Dr. Hill has archeological excavation experience in Alaska, Florida, the Southwest U.S., Mexico, Peru, and the Russian Far East and has conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Honduras. She was a 2016–2017 Fulbright–NSF Arctic Research Scholar, and spent a semester at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik studying the Icelandic language and researching the use of horses in Viking Age burial practices.
Dr. Hinzman recently served as the Assistant Director of Polar Sciences in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and as the Executive Director of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee. He is a former Vice Chancellor for Research and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). He served as the Director of the UAF International Arctic Research Center (IARC) from 2007 to 2015. Dr. Hinzman also served as a member of the U.S. Polar Research Board and as the U.S. delegate and president of the International Arctic Science Committee. 

Dr. Libby serves as the Principal Investigator for ADAC-ARCTIC, the Arctic Domain Awareness Center housed at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), formed with a $46 million, 10-year cooperative agreement with the Department of Homeland Security. He also serves as Director of the Center of Strategic Partnerships and Research (CSPR) and the Director of the Applied Environmental Research Center (AERC). Dr. Libby previously served as an Associate Dean for the UAA Community and Technical College. He is passionate about the Arctic and has been instrumental with student engagement opportunities throughout his career.

Steering Committee Members 

  • Pearl Brower, Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation (UIC)
  • Nancy Dahlstrom, Lt. Governor
  • Bryce Edgemon, Representative District 37
  • Jocelyn Fenton, Denali Commission
  • Matt Hickey, Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies
  • Rachel Kallander, Arctic Encounter
  • Molly McCammon, Alaska Ocean Observing System
  • Cheryl Rosa, US Arctic Research Commission 
  • Raina Thiele, former Senior Advisor for Alaska Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior
  • Matt Cooper, University of Alaska

Ex Officio

  • Russ Vander Lugt, University of Alaska Fairbanks
  • Cheryl Siemers, University of Alaska Anchorage
  • Aparna Palmer, University of Alaska Southeast

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