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As a career employee with the NPS for more than 20 years, Melia has served in a variety of positions starting as a cartographic technician in the Pacific West regional office in Honolulu in 1986. Melia has served as the management assistant in the Pacific West Region, Honolulu Office since April 2007. Prior to that, she held the position of supervisory cartographer/GIS coordinator for the Pacific Area parks. Her primarily role in that position was to coordinate with parks, partner agencies and others to facilitate GIS and geospatial data programs in the 11 parks in the Pacific Islands and Trust Territories of the Pacific Basin whose geographical area spans multiple time zones, ecosystems, and cultures.

Other positions recently held include management assistant at Fort Vancouver NHP during her USDA Executive Leadership Program in 2006-2007 as well as opportunities to serve as the acting Pacific Area director and acting superintendent at the National Park of American Samoa.

After receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1980 with a major in Geography and minor in Hawaiian Studies, she specialized in historical geography and cartographic production; she went on to complete a Master’s degree in Geography from the same university in 1986. Her M.A. thesis was a study of the migration of Native Hawaiians from Hawaii to coastal British Columbia, Canada, between 1810 and 1869. Currently Melia is completing an A.A. in Science (Paralegal) degree from Kapiolani Community College in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Melia has served on a variety of national, regional and local committees and working groups focusing primarily on GIS, cultural and natural resources management issues and park planning. She chaired the National Park Service’s Pacific West Region Cultural Resources Advisory Committee for 11 years; served on the Regional Science and Resources Task Force; and currently serves on the Pacific West Region GIS Committee and the National GIS Committee for the NPS. Upon appointment by the governor, she served two terms on the Hawaii Island Burial Council and continues to be active in Native Hawaiian issues related to management and policy, NAGPRA, and a variety of projects pertaining to the indigenous people and diverse cultures of Hawaii and the Pacific Basin.

Park planning has also occupied her time through the years and she was fortunate to participate in major planning projects for Kaloko-Honokohau NHP, the National Park of American Samoa, the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail, Kalaupapa NHP and the Ka’u Shoreline as well as other historic resources feasibility studies in the far Pacific.
Melia continues to provide leadership and mentoring to employees to encourage appreciation of cultures and celebrate diversity and continues to serve as a role model for those interested in careers with the agency or in federal service and foster programs supportive of minority applicants. She remains actively involved with publications, collaborative research, and presentations.