From the time I was a young girl, I’ve wanted to help my people, the Yup’ik. Our remote Native village, Kongiganak, is in Southwest Alaska just a few miles from the Bering Sea. Living near the Kuskokwim River, which empties into the sea at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, I saw that engineering solutions can play a critical role in preserving our lands, our homes, and our way of life.