Lauren Divine

Dr. Lauren Divine (she/her) is the Director of the Ecosystem Conservation Office. She earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University; Master of Science (M.S.) in Biology from Georgia Southern University; and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) focused in Marine Biology from University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her research, education, and experiences in Alaska allow her to span the boundaries across academic sciences; local, Indigenous and Traditional knowledges; tribal, federal and state management; and stakeholder engagement through community-based and citizen science program management. She is passionate about strengthening relationships across these boundaries in order to better serve her community, wildlife, and overall marine and terrestrial ecosystems of St. Paul, the Pribilof Islands, and broader Arctic. Lauren currently resides in Anchorage, Alaska.

Director of the Ecosystem Conservation Office
lmdivine@aleut.com​​
Work: 907-546-3231
Mobile: 907-257-2636​​​

Paul Melovidov

Paul Melovidov is ECO’s Island Sentinel Coordinator. He was born and raised on St. Paul Island. He graduated from Wasilla High School and served four years in the U.S. Army. Paul started working for the ECO in 2008 as an Island Sentinel and in 2010, all Island Sentinels were sworn in as Tribal Enforcement Officers. As a Tribal Enforcement Officer, Paul received a degree at the Tribal Probation Academy, which is about traditional, evidence, and victim-based Tribal Justice. Paul also completed a course in Tribal Natural Resource Management at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Paul fiercely advocates for St. Paul’s surrounding ecosystem by coordinating staff on environmental and wildlife projects (surveys, data collection, sampling, etc). Prior to working for ECO, he worked for the St. Paul village Native corporation, Tanadgusix (TDX) Corporation, from 1998–2008, where he managed and operated a wind/diesel generating system on St. Paul Island.

Island Sentinel Coordinator​​
pimelovidov@aleut.com​
Work: 907-546-4030​

Aaron Lestenkof

Aaron Lestenkof, Island Sentinel, is a tribal member born and raised on St. Paul Island. Growing up on St. Paul instilled a deep passion for its wildlife, especially the laaqudan, or northern fur seals, that make St. Paul their home every summer. Aaron joined the ECO in the early 2000s working with a team dedicated to finding entangled fur seals and disentangling them. After spending several years as a commercial fisherman, Aaron retuned to ECO as Island Sentinel in 2015. Aaron regularly monitors shorelines for stranded marine mammals, working closely with the island’s subsistence hunters to keep an ongoing record of Steller sea lion and northern fur seal subsistence harvests, northern fur seal disentanglement, marine debris cleanups, and invasive rodent prevention, just to name a few. Aaron leads ECO’s drone surveys for wildlife monitoring, including regular surveys on sea lions, harbor seals, and St. Paul’s reindeer herd.

​Island Sentinel​
aplestenkof@aleut.com​

Dallas Roberts

Dallas Roberts (Melovidov) is a tribal member born and raised on St. Paul Island. He spent three years with ECO as a youth hire in high school, where he spent a majority of work hours outside. His years as a youth intern inspired his journey to become an Island Sentinel, just like his uncle Paul Melovidov, who is the Lead Island Sentinel for the ECO. Being an Island Sentinel means Dallas is on the front lines of northern fur seal disentanglement, marine debris clean-ups, invasive rodent prevention, reindeer research and monitoring, and working with our local subsistence hunters to monitor subsistence activities throughout the year. Disentanglement is definitely a favorite part of Dallas’ position. He had the opportunity to complete an internship with world-renowned disentanglement team, Ocean Conservation Namibia, in Namibia, Africa in 2024, and says that there is nothing more rewarding than successfully freeing a seal from marine debris that otherwise poses mortal injury to animals.

Island Sentinel​
dvroberts@aleut.com​

Chelsea Campbell

Chelsea Campbell (Kovalcsik) is the Entanglement Coordinator and Island Sentinel for ECO! She leads the disentanglement and bio-sampling programs for the Tribe but assists other Island Sentinels and Staff with research/activities such as drone surveys, marine mammal strandings, and necropsies. Chelsea got her B.S. degree in Environmental Science in 2016 from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Chelsea is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Marine Biology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Dr. Lara Horstmann’s Marine Mammal Lab. Her research is broadly focused on the population decline of laaqudax̂ and through this work, she is attempting to quantify laaqudax̂ risk of exposure to environmental and anthropogenic contamination/toxins that could impact the subsistence users in the region. Originally from Ohio, Chelsea has lived in various places around the US but has happily called Alaska home since 2017.​

Entanglement Coordinator and Island Sentinel​
cmkovalcsik@aleut.com

Emily Hearth

Emily Hearth is the Community Food Security Lead for ECO. Originally from Michigan, she moved to Alaska in 2016 to attend college and later earned a B.A. in Sustainability Studies from Alaska Pacific University. Emily is focused on establishing a thriving, self-sustaining community garden with a strong support from local residents. Her work centers on increasing affordable, reliable access to fresh produce for the community and expanding youth knowledge about gardening and growing their own food.Emily Hearth

Community Food Security Lead
ehearth@aleut.com

Destiny Kushin

Destiny is a tribal member born and raised on St. Paul Island. From a young age, Destiny has been shadowing and helping countless scientists and researchers complete studies on St. Paul’s wildlife and ecosystems. She has a clear understanding of how badly overfishing and climate change have impacted her community. Destiny is passionate about working with the community to address climate change and extractive, industrial activities that have deeply impacted the ecosystem and subsequently the community. She seeks to do her part to protect the ocean that sustains her Peoples, which suits her current role perfectly. Destiny has been an ECO Youth Intern over many previous summers, and is currently an Island Sentinel Apprentice and Environmental Education Liaison between ECO and the Bering Sea Campus on St. Paul Island. She does a fabulous job facilitating place-based education featuring maintaining traditional ways of life, especially pertaining to traditional food systems. Destiny is currently working towards a career in Fisheries Management, and is involved in the island’s Youth Tribal Council. She is a previous Arctic Youth Ambassador (2023-2024), Earth Echo International OceanEcho 30×30 Fellow (2022-2023), and represents Aleut International Association as a youth delegate to Arctic Council functions.

Island Sentinel Apprentice and Environmental Education Liaison
dbkushin@aleut.com​

Maya Reda-Williams

Chris Tran

Chris Tran (he/him) is the Tribal Scientist for ECO. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree in Geoscience at the University of Alaska Fairbanks under the Tamamta Fellowship program. His main focus investigates coastal hazard impacts and community-based adaption on St. Paul Island. He was born and raised in Seattle, Washington and earned his B.S in Environmental Science at the University of Washington. He currently resides in Anchorage, Alaska.

Tribal Scientist
cctran@aleut.com​
Mobile: 206-229-4594​