IARPC Secretariat

Nancy Sung

Executive Director
Nancy.S.Sung@ostp.eop.gov

Nancy Sung, Ph.D., serves as the Assistant Director for Polar Sciences in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and as the Executive Director of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC). In this role, she leads implementation of the 2022-2026 Federal Arctic Research Plan. She is on detail assignment from the National Science Foundation (NSF), where she has served as Science Policy Advisor in the Office of Polar Programs since 2020, focusing on Arctic and Antarctic policy, international engagement, and polar science strategy. From 2014-2018, she was Head of NSF’s China Office, while serving as a Science Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Other positions held since joining NSF in 2011 include Deputy Head (Acting) of the Office of International Science and Engineering, Science Advisor, Biological Sciences, and Program Director. Dr. Sung earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH).

Lesley Anderson

Acting Executive Secretary
leanders@associates.nsf.gov

Lesley Anderson received her B.S. in biology from Cal Poly, M.S. in chemistry from South Dakota State, and her Ed.D in science educational leadership from San Diego State. Lesley is a former science educator and administrator at the project-based High Tech High schools in San Diego. Over the past decade she has engaged in diverse science experiences each summer, including tracking breaching great white sharks in South Africa, working as a data analyst for NASA at JPL, conducting sea turtle genetics research for NOAA, analyzing ice core samples from Greenland and Antarctica, sailing aboard the JOIDES Resolution supporting scientific ocean drilling, trekking to the South Pole as a PolarTREC teacher to hunt neutrinos, and serving as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the Library of Congress. Lesley worked for the Antarctic Support Contract as a Science Planner before stepping into her current role as a Science Project Manager with QED supporting the Arctic Research Support and Logistics Program at the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Sorina Stalla

Implementation Director
sorina@iarpccollaborations.org

Sorina started with IARPC in 2020 and serves as a the Implementation Director. Sorina's past work has focused on different aspects of partnership development, improving science-policy interfaces, and enhancing education initiatives aimed at the federal workforce. She holds a Masters Degree in International Environmental Policy and Ocean and Coastal Resource Management.

Meredith LaValley

Policy Analyst & Coordinator
meredith@iarpccollaborations.org

Meredith recently completed her Master's in Environmental Policy at Bard College, where she focuses much of her independent studies on Arctic issues, and her thesis focused on understanding knowledge exchange within IARPC Collaboration teams. She lives in Anchorage, Alaska, where she will work closely with the Alaska-based IARPC Collaborations community.

Hazel Shapiro

US AON Program Analyst
hazel@iarpccollaborations.org

Hazel joined the IARPC Secretariat in 2020. She has a BA in Earth Sciences from Dartmouth College where she studied regional weather patterns in Denali, AK. Since then, she has been working in the conservation/non-profit sector, often focused on collaborative project management.

Toni O'Boyle

Policy Analyst & Director of IARPC Collaboration Team Activities
toni@iarpccollaborations.org

Toni joined the IARPC Secretariat in 2023. After receiving a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, she started her career in public relations in Washington, D.C. Her years in the communications field involved team and project management, campaign strategy, and content development in the agriculture, pharmaceutical, energy, and manufacturing industries. Originally from northern Virginia, she is now based in Denver, Colorado.

Caitlynn Tautuk Hanna

Indigenous Leadership Fellow
tautuk@iarpccollaborations.org

Caitlynn is an Iñupiaq person born and raised in Alaska and is deeply rooted in their indigenous culture and traditional activities. They are on track to complete their Master's degree in Civil Engineering with a focus on permafrost research from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in August 2024. She received her Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering in 2022 from UAF. Upon graduating they hope to incorporate their indigenous identity into addressing the unique challenges facing her Arctic homeland.

Michele Yatchmeneff

Indigenous Leadership Fellow
michele@iarpccollaborations.org

Michele is a Unangax^  with roots in King Cove and False Pass. She is the only Alaska Native in the world with a PhD in Engineering Education. Her doctorial work focused on the motivation and success of pre-college Alaska Native STEM students. She became the first Alaska Native woman to teach in the College of Engineering at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). Her current research focuses on the belongingness of Alaska Natives in STEM and Indigenizing education. In 2018, Michele received the prestigious National Science Foundation (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. Michele was promoted to Associate Professor of Engineering in 2021. Michele 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 Executive Director for Alaska Native Education & Outreach in October 2021. She was recently awarded the national College Board Dr. Henrietta Mann Leadership Award.