Monday, May 19, 2025 | 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM

Ronald "Ronny" McPherson, P.E. 

HDR, Inc. | Alaska Water Business Group - Coastal Lead, Northwest, US 

Ronny leads the Alaska Water Business Group for HDR overseeing staff that work on drinking water, wastewater, and water resource management projects responsible for both operations and business development. In addition, Ronny leads coastal efforts throughout the Northwest (Alaska, Washington, and Oregon) coordinating regional leadership and providing subject matter expertise. Ronny has led the maritime and coastal program for HDR in Alaska. This program serves maritime and coastal clients throughout Alaska with port and harbor design, coastal engineering, coastal planning, port planning, and marine environmental services such as permitting and marine mammal monitoring.

Ronny is experienced in analysis, design, and construction of coastal and maritime projects including shoreline protection, wetland restoration/creation, bridge scour, dredging, passing vessel analyses, structural wave and current loading analyses, propeller scour analyses, beach nourishment, marine facility protection, and a wide array of coastal numerical models.  Ronny is experienced in collaborative/alternative delivery methods having led program management procurements activities for design/build, progressive design/build, and construction manager/general contractor (CMGC) delivery methods. 

Ronny has provided professional services throughout the United States, Central America, Central Pacific, and the Middle East focusing on the Alaska, Texas, Louisiana, and northwest United States coastal areas.   Ronny has held responsible positions in various coastal and maritime engineering projects and accumulated experience in project management as well as program management, the analysis of complex coastal processes, applied design, numerical modeling, data collection (e.g., topographic survey, bathymetric survey, wave/current/tide measurements), preparation of plans and specifications, and collaborative/alternative delivery procurement.

Monday, May 19, 2025 | 12:15 PM - 12:45 PM

Thomas Ravens, Ph.D. 

Professor, Civil Engineering Department | The University of Alaska Anchorage 

Tom Ravens is a professor of civil engineering at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) where he has served since 2007. Tom’s research is focused on Arctic coastal processes and engineering including coastal erosion and flooding. Tom has developed and validated predictive process-based models of the main Arctic coastal erosion mechanisms – bluff face thaw / slump (thermal denudation) and niche erosion / block collapse (thermal abrasion). He is working to develop these models into design tools for coastal protection, incorporating both thermal and mechanical control mechanisms.

Additionally, Tom is doing research to quantify and communicate the risk (cost) of Arctic coastal flooding and erosion. For example, to estimate the cost of flooding now and in the future, Tom uses measures of community flood exposure, in conjunction with data on community expenditures on flood mitigation, to estimate the current and future cost of flooding for a given community. Finally, Tom does research in support of the hydrokinetic renewable energy industry. For example, he uses measurements and models to determine the hydrokinetic energy resource at a given location. And, he uses measurements and models to determine the hydraulic and sediment transport impact of energy extraction.  

Tuesday, May 20, 2025 | 12:15 PM - 12:45 PM

Michele Yatchmeneff, Ph.D. 

Professor, The University of Alaska Anchorage | Alaska Native Education & Outreach Executive Director

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.