Dr. Michele Yatchmeneff is an Unangax̂ with roots in King Cove and False Pass, Alaska. She was an Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program (ANSEP) and National Science Foundation (NSF) Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) scholar at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) where she earned a BS in Civil Engineering in 2005 and an MS in Engineering Management in 2009. After earning her BS, she began working in Alaska's construction and engineering industry, specializing in water and sewer projects in remote villages across the state of Alaska. She also worked as the Deputy Director for ANSEP and helped grow the program into a longitudinal pipeline that helps thousands of students succeed in STEM degrees and professions. Professor Yatchmeneff is the only Alaska Native in the world with a PhD in Engineering Education, which she earned from Purdue University in 2015. Her doctoral work focused on the motivation and success of Alaska Native pre-college STEM students. In 2015, she became the first Alaska Native woman to teach in the College of Engineering at UAA. In 2018 Professor Yatchmeneff received the prestigious NSF CAREER Award, honoring her work on “Alaska Native Belonging in High School Math and Science Classrooms.” This award was the first and only NSF CAREER award granted at UAA until 2023. She was also promoted to Associate Professor of Engineering in 2021. Her current research expands her doctoral work and focuses on the belongingness of Alaska Natives in STEM and Indigenizing Education. Professor Yatchmeneff has committed her career to improving Alaska Native success and was hired to serve on UAA’s Chancellor’s cabinet in an inaugural position as the Executive Director for Alaska Native Education and Outreach in October 2021. She was awarded the National College Board Dr. Henrietta Mann Leadership Award.
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Lunch Keynote Presentation: Michelle Yatchmeneff
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
12:15 PM – 12:45 PM Alaska Daylight Time (AKDT)
