Karla Jensen
Rural Environmental Program Specialist
Karla is Dena’ina Athabascan from Pedro Bay, on lake Iliamna. She is a lifelong subsistence user, photographer and advocate for the Bristol Bay tribes. She serves on various boards that primarily advocate for subsistence use and protecting the environment, current first responder, and has held various positions for her tribal council and village corporation board. After a 39-year career in law enforcement, she wanted to make a difference in her community by joining the environmental field, where she was instrumental in setting up and administrating a recycling program, overseeing the landfill, composting, incineration and day to day operations. Her experience also included working for the 611th (JBER), at Shemya and Wake Island, where she primarily dealt with hazardous & nonhazardous waste, and recycling. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, fishing, hunting, hiking, travel and above all, teaching her granddaughter the subsistence lifestyle.