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Alexander (Sasha) Kitaysky

Research Interests: 

The main focus of my current research program is on the fundamental question: 
Can we predict population responses (range shift, adaptation or extinction) to an environmental change based on current phenotypic and biological age structures of natural populations of marine top-predators?

Specifically, I am interested in (A) how climate- and human induced environmental changes affect physiology, reproduction and survival of different phenotypes in wild seabird populations; and (B) the consequences of such differential selection pressure on individuals for the spatial and temporal dynamics of their populations.

Sasha Kitaysky
Professor of Integrative Physiology
Office: 
413 Irving 1
907-474-5179
Lab: 
110 Irving 1
907-474-5753
Postal Address: 
Institute of Arctic Biology
PO Box 757000
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7000
  • 1992-1996 Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, USA
  • 1986 MS, Irkutsk State University, Russia
  • 2013-current Professor of Integrative Physiology, Department of Biology and Wildlife, IAB, UAF
  • 2007-2013 Associate Professor of Integrative Physiology, Department of Biology and Wildlife, IAB, UAF
  • 2003-2007 Assistant Professor of Integrative Physiology, Department of Biology and Wildlife, IAB, UAF
  • 2000-2003 Research Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, UW
  • 1997-2000 Research Associate, Department of Zoology, UW, Seattle

2008

Addison, B.A., Kitaysky, A.S. & J. Hipfner, M., 2008. Sex allocation in a monomorphic seabird with a single-egg clutch: test of the environment, mate quality, and female condition hypotheses. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 63, pp.135–141.
Z. Benowitz-Fredericks, M., Shultz, M.T. & Kitaysky, A.S., 2008. Stress hormones suggest opposite trends of food availability for planktivorous and piscivorous seabirds in 2 years. Deep-Sea Research II, 55, pp.1868–1876.
Bentzen, R.L. et al., 2008. Characterizing the nutritional strategy of incubating king eiders Somateria spectabilis in northern Alaska. Journal of Avian Biology, 39, pp.683–690.
III, H.D.Douglas, Kitaysky, A.S. & Kitaiskaia, E.V., 2008. Seasonal covariation in progesterone and odorant emissions among breeding crested auklets (Aethia cristatella). Hormones and Behavior, 54, pp.325–329.
Shultz, M.Todd & Kitaysky, A.Stanislav, 2008. Spatial and temporal dynamics of corticosterone and corticosterone binding globulin are driven by environmental heterogeneity. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 155, pp.717–728.
Takahashi, A. et al., 2008. Thick-billed murres use different diving behaviors in mixed and stratified waters. Deep-Sea Research II, 55, pp.1837–1845.
Williams, C.T. et al., 2008. Corticosterone levels of tufted puffins vary with breeding stage, body condition index, and reproductive performance. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 158, pp.29–35.

2006

Benowitz-Fredericks, M.Z., Kitaysky, A.S. & Springer, A.M., 2006. Long-term Ecological Change in the Northern Gulf of Alaska. In R. B. Spies Elsevier, Oxford, pp. 94–112.
Benowitz-Fredericks, Z.M., Kitaysky, A.S. & Thompson, C.W., 2006. Growth and allocation in captive common murre (uria aalge) chicks. The Auk, 123, pp.1–13.

Pages

  • The Bering Sea’s Regime Shifts: Using a century of data to examine dynamics of nutritional stress and trophic linkages in fish-eating seabirds. - NPRB 1410
  • Early breeding season responses of red-legged kittiwakes to changes of prey availability and linkages to the non-breeding stage - NPRB 1409
  • Forage Patch Dynamics I - NPRB, NSF
  • Forage Patch Dynamics II - NPRB, NSF
  • Effects of Physical Forcing in the Bering Sea Ecosystem - NPRB
  • BIOL 441 Animal Behavior
Past Graduate Students

Advised

  • Rebecca Young (Ph.D.)
  • Chris Barger (M.S.)
  • Ine Dorresteijn (M.S.)
  • T. Morgan (M.S.)
  • J. Sears (M.S.)
  • Michael Shultz (M.S.)
  • Tom Dempsey (M.S.)

Co-Advised

  • Jannik Schultner (Ph.D.)
  • Morgan Benowitz-Fredericks (Ph.D.)