Kat Milligan-McClellan, Ph.D.
University of Connecticut
Kat Milligan-McClellan, Ph.D., is the first Inupiaq to earn a Ph.D. in microbiology, and 1 of 100 Alaskan Natives with a Ph.D. She earned her Bachelor of Science in medical microbiology and immunology and Ph.D. in microbiology, both at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During her postdoctoral fellowship, she he established a protocol for deriving a germ-free model of threespine stickleback to study host-microbe interactions. As an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut, she examines how environmental toxicants that affect Indigenous communities affect the microbiota and host development, with a long-term goal of developing aquatic fish-safe bioremediation treatments. Her lab also studies population effects on microbiome communities, with a focus on host and microbe evolutionary traits and interactions.
Because of her experiences at primarily white institutions as an Indigenous student, she studies how to make STEM more inclusive, with a focus on improving the academic environment for Native students. This has manifested in several papers calling for changes in U.S. and international campuses and the development and implementation of a writing class on the historical exclusion of underrepresented students. She is most proud of her work supporting Alaska Native students in their pursuit of a higher education so that they can use their education to support the preservation of Inupiaq subsistence living and cultural practices.
Since starting her lab, Milligan-McClellan has mentored nearly 40 mentees, from high school students through postdocs and lab technicians. She also co-organizes an annual free, day-long event with STEM-related hands-on activities for K-12 students. Outside interests include beading and running.
Because of her experiences at primarily white institutions as an Indigenous student, she studies how to make STEM more inclusive, with a focus on improving the academic environment for Native students. This has manifested in several papers calling for changes in U.S. and international campuses and the development and implementation of a writing class on the historical exclusion of underrepresented students. She is most proud of her work supporting Alaska Native students in their pursuit of a higher education so that they can use their education to support the preservation of Inupiaq subsistence living and cultural practices.
Since starting her lab, Milligan-McClellan has mentored nearly 40 mentees, from high school students through postdocs and lab technicians. She also co-organizes an annual free, day-long event with STEM-related hands-on activities for K-12 students. Outside interests include beading and running.