Meet Dallas Roberts, St. Paul Island Sentinel

Aang! My name is Dallas Roberts, and I am 26 years old. I was born and raised here in St. Paul Island. Through my high school career, I spent 3 years with ECO as a youth hire and I loved every minute of it because we spent the majority of the time outside. 

My main role at the Tribe is Island Sentinel. The duties that come with being an Island Sentinel are northern fur seal disentanglement, marine debris clean-up, invasive rat prevention, reindeer population counts, monitoring shorelines for marine mammal stranding, and working with our local subsistence hunters to monitor sea lion, northern fur seal, and reindeer harvests. We spend most of our summer doing fur seal disentanglements and that is really what motivates me to come to work every day. The feeling you get when you disentangle a seal is so rewarding. 

The person who inspired me and influenced my career path is my uncle Paul Melovidov. He has been working with ECO since 2008. He has truly inspired me to be the best I can while at work and at home.

Meet Paul Melovidov, St. Paul Island Sentinel Coordinator

Hello, my name is Paul Melovidov. I am an Alaska Native Unangan born and raised on St. Paul Island. I started working for the Aleut Community of St. Paul Tribal Government in 2008 as a Sentinel and in 2010 all Sentinels were sworn in as Tribal Officers. As a Tribal Officer, I received a degree at the Tribal Probation Academy, which is about traditional, evidence, and victim-based Tribal Justice, and I also received course credit for study in Tribal Natural Resource Management. 

My current position is Island Sentinel Coordinator. My main role is to advocate for our surrounding ecosystem by coordinating staff on environmental and wildlife projects (surveys, data collection, sampling, etc). 

Prior to working for our Tribal Government, I worked for our native corporation (TDX Corporation – TDX Power Inc.) from 1998–2008.  I managed and operated a wind/diesel generating system on St. Paul Island. My additional education includes 4 years in the Army and graduation from Wasilla High School. 

My motivation to work is my concern for our wildlife and Unangan culture. I am inspired by people, places, and things in my community. My hope for the future is for Tribal Self-Governance and for St. Paul to be a self-sustaining community. Outside of work, I like hunting and gathering subsistence foods, biking, and photography.

Meet Hanna Hellen, Environmental Program Manager

I grew up in Anchorage and spent much of my childhood on the Kenai Peninsula outdoors with my family fishing and camping. I am of mixed Tlingit, Irish, and Finnish ancestry and am Gaanaxteidee from the whale house. I grew up with stories from my mom and grandma and was raised with traditional values and respect for land. I have always loved spending time outside and wanted to pursue a career that would allow me to work on the land and protect it. 

I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries and Ocean Science from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and have recently returned for a Master of Science in Marine Biology as a fellow in the Tamamta program.

I have been working for ECO for 2 years, and my role has been focused on our Indian Environmental General Assistance Program and our co-management agreement with NOAA Fisheries. Through my work, I am able to spend my summer on St. Paul working on environmental monitoring programs and with the local northern fur seals. I feel honored to get to spend so much of my time working in a wonderful community and with the amazing team that we have at ECO. I hope to continue working with important subsistence species and doing research to protect access to these species that are so important to our ways of life. I also want to continue working with food security and traditional foods in Alaskan communities. Outside of work, I am a scuba diver and I spend my time hiking and skiing. I also enjoy reading and knitting or sewing from sustainable materials.

NOAA Fisheries-Alaska Regional Office

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  entanglement, indigenous, island, seal, sentinal, stpaul