SUNY ESF
Students

Graduate Student and Alumni

For  current Sloan Indigenous Graduate Fellows, visit the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Fellow page.

Annie Sorrell, Sowing Synergy Graduate Program

My name is Annie Sorrell I am a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes. I received my Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science at Haskell Indian Nations University. I am currently pursuing my Master's degree in Conservation Biology at SUNY ESF. Growing up on the Flathead Nation where my family resides, I have an interest in understanding how reconnection to land and place can help heal intergenerational traumas that are on reservations. My current research is designed to better understand the traditional knowledge of Bitterroot Salish aromatic plants within the community living on the Flathead Nation in Montana. Living in a world today where aromatic scents can be purchased anywhere; I want to see if the traditional knowledge is being handed down through the generations or with the modern world is the knowledge being lost. I want to use the knowledge that I learn at SUNY ESF and bring it back to my communities.

Kaya DeerInWater, Sowing Synergy Graduate Program

Kaya DeerInWater is from the Citizen Band of Potawatomi and lives in Wasétenak (Grand Rapids, Michigan) with his wife and three children. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Biocultural Restoration at SUNY ESF in Syracuse, New York. His research focuses on the plant knowledge within the Citizen Potawatomi communities in Central Oklahoma. He received his undergraduate degree from University of California Davis in Ecological Restoration and Management. He previously worked as the Community Garden Manager for his band where he focused on growing both traditional and non-traditional crops and led workshops around building relationships with plants and the land through Indigenous foods and crafts. His vision is rebuilding robust Native food systems by building capacity through increased production, distribution, and consumption of nutritious, culturally significant, and sustainably harvested foods within Great Lakes Native communities.

Loga Fixico, Sowing Synergy Graduate Program

My name is Loga Fixico and I'm an Amskapi Pikunni (Blackfeet) man from the High Plains of Montana. The Blackfeet Nation is a nation of warriors. And this is important to understand because it's fundamental to our social values and the way we think. But this warrior ethos has very little to do with fighting or killing, and everything to do with maintaining our responsibilities. Growing up on an Indian reservation brought challenges that I didn't expect when I was a boy. But they're challenges that I'm grateful to have been given. I'm only the second person in my family to successfully navigate college. Some of this success includes a Bachelor of Environmental Science (Terrestrial Resources), an Associate of Forestry, a Master Level Tutor Certification, and a Geospatial Science Certification. Although I now know it's far more important to learn how to learn as opposed to learning what to learn, I'm extending my passions into a Master's degree in biocultural restoration at SUNY ESF. I find it absolutely fascinating how societies interface cultural values and ecological values, and how these connections synthesize to create functional systems of management and restoration. This is how I plan to contribute to the body of scientific knowledge and to my community's long-term wellbeing.

Raymond John Gutteriez, M.S., Ecology

Hele nuum (Hello People), my name is Raymond John Gutteriez. I started my journey in graduate school in late August 2013. I have the good fortune to be a part of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, where I am pursuing a Master’s degree in Ecology. I remember when I was a little guy, following my grandmother and great-aunt around and learning about the different plants and animals of the Sierra Nevada. I watched and listened as names were spoken, uses explained and how we—human-animals—are to care for the plants, animals, air, water, land and one another. It was these early teachings which greatly influenced the way I see the world and directed my choice of college majors. I graduated from California State University at Fresno in 2010 with a degree in Ecology. I remember being frustrated in classes, where I attempted to share a different way of knowing the land, taught to me by my grandma and auntie, and having my ideas brushed aside for not being “scientific.”

In the short history of our species we have created, and continue to create, many wounds on our Mother Earth and on our own human-spirit. We oppress and exploit the land in the same way we oppress and exploit one another. We over look that the wounds we make on the land are the wounds we make on our spirits and the wounds we make on our spirits are the wounds we make on the land. We are intrinsically interconnected. But, far too often we attempt to separate the two. There is human civilization and there is the ‘nature’, the ‘wilderness’.

I work to encourage different ways of knowing the world. I want to be a part of the movement dismantling the wall dividing traditional ecological knowledge and scientific ecological knowledge. I want to empower communities to be stewards of their local environments, to rebuild the connection between people and the land. I know what it is like being the lone voice in a room talking about TEK, for that reason I work with indigenous youth to help them develop the vocabulary explain their world views and ways of knowing in a way western minds can understand.

I guess a little more of my history might be useful. I am a person of many cultures. I am Wuksachi-Mono, indigenous from the Sierra Nevada Range in California; I am black, African American, the descendent of escaped and freed slaves; I grew up in a Mexican community, East Salinas; I have watched my family navigate the economic spectrum and move from working-class to kind of middle class. I am constantly learning about history, my history, the history of struggle of poor people and people of color. I know the struggles those who have come before me have faced so that I can be where I am today. I see the legacy they have right our species, and thought we are far from being at a place respect and mutual appreciation for one another and all things I, and many like me are working to continue that legacy, to empower communities to shed the chains of imperialism and continue the transition to a more sustainable world ecologically and socially.

Sara Amanda Smith, M.S., Ecology

Sara Smith is a citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and is the Midwest Tribal Resilience Liaison with the College of Menominee Nation - Sustainable Development Institute (CMN-SDI), in association with the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (MW CASC).

As the liaison for the Midwest, she works on facilitating stronger relationships between Tribes, climate researchers, State and Federal organizations, academic institutions, and the MW CASC. In addition, she works with Tribes to build capacity and provides support by helping identify gaps and assisting with climate resilience efforts.

Sara holds a Master of Science in Ecology from the State University of New York – College of Environmental Science and Forestry and an undergraduate degree in Biology and First Nation Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Undergraduate Students and Alumni

Cassandra Beaulieu, Indigenous Environmental Leaders for the Future Fellowship Recipient

Shé:kon, my name is Cassandra Beaulieu (Mohawk Nation) and I am currently pursuing a B.S. in Environmental Chemistry here at SUNY ESF with a focus on aquatic chemistry. I earned an A.S in Mathematics & Science with a concentration in chemistry at Cayuga Community College. This past summer I participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Oceanography (SURFO) at the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island. During this time I developed a method for accurately measuring the nitrogen isotopic composition of ammonium in water samples provided by wastewater treatment facilities that discharge into the Narragansett Bay watershed. Making these particular nutrient measurements can give insight to what sources of nitrogen are controlling the watershed nutrient loads and can help in mediating eutrophication and hypoxia in the bay. I am also working on a senior project in the chemistry department at ESF dealing with the effects of CDOM (colored dissolved organic matter) on carbon dioxide gas transfer in freshwater systems. Due, in part, to these experiences, I am interested in nutrient cycling in aquatic systems and plan on pursuing a PhD in Chemical Oceanography in the near future. In regard to my involvement as an indigenous environmental leader for the future, I am enjoying connecting TEK to my interests in aquatic chemistry and learning how an indigenous cultural background can be at the forefront of my education in a STEM field.

Kathryn Goodwin, Indigenous Environmental Leaders for the Future Fellowship Recipient

Oki, my name is Kathryn Goodwin. I will be a junior in Environmental Studies with a focus in policy, planning, and law. I am from Los Angeles, where I went to community college before transferring here this past fall. I am of Blackfeet heritage and being a part of the Indigenous Environmental Leaders of the Future has allowed me to gain a closer connection to my ancestry and to others' heritages. I am interested in food security and the ways in which climate change is affecting agriculture across the world. More recently, I have become interested in learning all I can about the drought in California. As a life long resident of the state, it's water crisis is very personal to me. Seeing the news media cover it, makes me realize that what happens in California will undoubtedly affect the whole state, no matter what coast you live on. In the future, I would like to go into water policy/security and look at the ways in which water wars will be the wars of the future.

Kimberly Hill, Indigenous Environmental Leaders for the Future Fellowship Recipient

Čwe'n, kyà:0e Yehehnakwáhstha?. Hi, my name is Kim Hill and I'm from the Tuscarora Nation (near Niagara Falls, NY). I graduated from Bard College at Simon's Rock with an Associate's degree in liberal studies. I transferred to SUNY ESF in 2013 to focus more on environmental studies and was accepted as a fellow for Indigenous Environmental Leaders for the Future. I'm currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Natural Resources Management with minors in Water Resources and Recreation Resource & Protected Area Management. Last year, I was accepted as part of the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at Northern Arizona University. I've spent the past summer working with conservation issues on the Colorado Plateau and the Grand Canyon region where we did service-learning projects and various field trips. I also worked with USGS on Sagebrush Habitat Assessment in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. This summer I will be working with USGS again as part of the DDCSP. The internship is studying the impact of nonnative predators on native Hawaiian pollinators and plants while also looking at (eradication) management techniques for pollinator restoration.

Meleimoana Ta’alolo Su’esu’e, Indigenous Environmental Leaders for the Future Fellowship Recipient

Talofa, my name is Mele, I'm a sophomore majoring in Environmental Resources Engineering. I am of Samoan heritage and I was born and raised in Hawai'i. I have always been interested in environmental science, which is why I first applied to ESF. Being a part of the Indigenous Environmental Leaders of the Future allows me to learn about the importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge. I am interested in ecological restoration and sustainable development. In the future, I hope to use TEK combined with western science to promote cultural and ecological sustainability in island communities.