Vera Kingeekuk Metcalf

TBD

About the Speaker

Vera was born and raised in Savoonga (Sivungaq) on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Since 2002, Vera has been the Director of the Eskimo Walrus Commission (EWC) at Kawerak, Inc. in Nome, Alaska, which represents 19 coastal Alaska Native communities to promote community involvement in research, document Indigenous knowledge, and co-manage the Pacific walrus population. Vera is a Special Advisor on Native Affairs on the Marine Mammal Commission, a Steering Committee member for the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, a committee member on the Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program/University of Alaska, and an Advisory Council member for the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. She has served as an Advisory Panel member of the North Pacific Research Board, as a member of the Inuit Circumpolar Council Executive Committee and Alaska board, and as a member of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. Vera is also the Bering Strait Commissioner for the U.S. Department of State, facilitating travel between the Indigenous people of Chukotka, Russia, and the Bering Strait region of Alaska. Vera is a strong advocate for the subsistence lifestyles of Arctic Indigenous people and is passionate about strengthening Indigenous languages and cultures.