No Place Like Home

Listen to a more in-depth interview with Michele Yatchmeneff on the Seawolf Voices podcast to hear her talk in greater detail about growing up between Anchorage and the Aleutian Islands, her educational trajectory, the Alaska Native Success Initiative and more. Available on Spotify, Audible and YouTube.

Most people would consider themselves fortunate to find one place where they feel truly at home. Michele Yatchmeneff, B.S. Civil Engineering ’05, M.S. Engineering Management ’09, has several of these places: her birthplace of Anchorage, her familial homes of King Cove and False Pass in the Aleutian Islands and the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) Building at UAA.

In October 2021, Yatchmeneff accepted the role of executive director of Alaska Native education and outreach at her alma mater. Her position sits on the Chancellor’s Cabinet and is focused on providing Alaska Native students, staff and faculty with opportunities to succeed on campus. The goal is outlined in the statewide University of Alaska System’s Alaska Native Success Initiative.

What makes Yatchmeneff perfect for the job is that she has been all those things at UAA — a student, staff and faculty member — and understands the importance of seeing someone who looks like you in a leadership position. Before taking the new job, she served as associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and assistant director of the ANSEP.

“When you see someone who looks like you or has experienced some things like you, you feel like you can ask them for advice or support,” said Yatchmeneff. “Hopefully having been one of the first Alaska Native students and faculty in the College of Engineering will make it better for the students and faculty who come after me, and I’ll be available to help so they don’t hit the same pitfalls I did.”

Originally attending UAF after high school, Yatchmeneff came to UAA to be closer to family before enrolling at Arizona State University to see what the Lower 48 had to offer. Two years in, the more advanced her engineering studies became, the less diverse her classmates appeared. Feeling diminished, she came home to Anchorage for a break.

After recharging, Yatchmeneff gave engineering one more shot and re-enrolled at UAA. This time she found ANSEP, which saw massive growth while she was away. Now surrounded and supported by peers, she found the motivation to finish her bachelor’s and master’s and then proceed to Purdue University for her doctorate.

During her time at Purdue, Yatchmeneff readjusted her goals. While her undergraduate and graduate degrees focused on engineering as a career, her Ph.D. focused on engineering education. Yatchmeneff returned to Anchorage and worked in teaching so she could impact generations of engineers.

“I always knew that whatever I was going to do, I wanted to support Alaska Native people in some way,” said Yatchmeneff. “When I went into engineering, I wanted to help communities that didn’t have running water. When I started working at the university, I realized I could have a bigger impact by helping Alaska Native students. I think what’s different about Indigenous people is that there’s a big passion around wanting to support their community.”