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Dr. Karletta Chief (Diné) is a Professor & Extension Specialist in Environmental Science at the University of Arizona. She is the director of the Indigenous Resilience Center and lead for the NSF Indigenous Food, Energy, and Water Security and Sovereignty Training Program. Indige-FEWSS’s vision is to develop a diverse workforce with intercultural awareness and expertise in sustainable food, energy, and water systems (FEWS), specifically through off grid technologies to address the lack of safe water, energy, and food security in Indigenous communities. Dr. Karletta Chief grew up on the Navajo Nation without electricity and running water. Her family live within the Peabody Coal Company leasehold area. Her lived personal experiences of environmental injustice and as a first-generation graduate motivate her to devote all her environmental research to supporting the resilience of Indigenous communities and training of students in sustainable technologies. Her primary Navajo projects include “Navajo COVID-19 Risks and Indigenous Resilience and Gold King Mine Spill Diné Exposure Project. Dr. Chief received a B.S. and M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University in 1998 and 2000 and a Ph.D. in Hydrology and Water Resources from UArizona in 2007. She completed her post-doctorate at Desert Research Institute in Las Vegas, NV. In 2011, Dr. Chief was named American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Most Promising Scientist/Scholar, 2013 Stanford University Distinguished Alumni Scholar, 2015 Native American 40 under 40, 2016 AISES Professional of the Year, and 2016 Phoenix Indian Center Woman of the Year.Show Less
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Grants
- Uniting Western Restoration Strategies and Indigenous Knowledges to Build Capacity and Climate Resilience on the Navajo Nation
Co-Investigator (COI)
2022
$223.7K
Active - Jurisdiction Back: Infrastructure Beyond Extractivism
Principal Investigator (PI)
2022
$10.0K
Active - Collaborative Research: NSF INCLUDES Alliance: Broadening Career Pathways in Food, Energy, and Water Systems with and within Native American Communities (Native FEWS Alliance)
Principal Investigator (PI)
2021
$1.4M
Active - SRS RN: Transforming Rural-Urban Systems: Trajectories for Sustainability in the Intermountain West
Principal Investigator (PI)
2021
$557.0K
Active - Exposures, Health Impacts, and Risk for Mine Waste Contamination
Multiple Principal Investigator (MPI)
2020
$8.9M
Active - Artificial Intelligence to Increase Sustainability of Water, Nutrient, Salinity, and Pest Management in the Western US
Co-Investigator (COI)
2020
$1.1M
Active - Investigating Linkages Between Arsenic Exposure, Diabetes, and COVID-19 Infections and Risks on the Navajo Nation
Multiple Principal Investigator (MPI)
2020
$383.1K
Active - Decision Support for Agricultural Reuse of Municipal Wastewater Effluent in The Navajo Nation
Co-Investigator (COI)
2020
$150.0K
Active - NRT-INFEWS: Indigenous Food, Energy, and Water Security and Sovereignty
Principal Investigator (PI)
2017
$3.0M
Active - LSAMP BD: University of Arizona, Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities
Co-Investigator (COI)
2018
$1.1M
News
- UArizona climate adaptation experts contribute to latest IPCC climate report
2022
- UArizona Postdoc's 50-Mile Run for Indigenous Scientists Featured in Patagonia Film
2021
- UArizona Welcomes Tribal Leaders From Across U.S. for Two-Day Summit on Education
2021
- UArizona Launches Center to Advance Resilience of Native Nations, Address Environmental Challenges
2021
- UArizona, Diné College to Train Next Generation of Navajo Water Scientists
2021
- Superfund Research Center Receives $10.6M to Study Mining Waste, Arsenic-Diabetes Link
2020
- Students Tackle 21st Century Sustainability Challenges on the Navajo Nation
2019
- New Haury Grant Centers on Habitat Restoration
2018
- Metal Mining Waste Focus of $3.27M UA Superfund Research Program
2018
- UA Leads STEM Traineeship to Address Needs of Navajo Nation
2017
- Toxic-Spill Researchers Win $600K Haury Challenge Grant
2016
- UA Experts Can Offer Expertise on Issues Related to Mining Spills
2015
- Arizona's Future Climate: Temps Rising, Water Disappearing
2014
- New Book Outlines Unique Challenges Climate Instability Poses to Southwest
2013
- UA Students Win Chapter Award, Prepare Outreach Event
2013
- How Climate Change Impacts Indigenous Communities
2013
- UA Outreach Program Involves High School Students in Science
2012
- UA Climate Science Center Receives $1.4M for Climate Change Studies
2012
- Three Navajo Students Graduate With Ph.D. Degrees in Engineering
2007
- Fall Commencement Set for Dec. 20
2003
- UA Hydrologists Study Aspen Fire
2003
- UA Hydrologists Study Aspen Fire Area to Better Understand Runoff, Flooding
2003
Publications (38)
Recent
- Exploring personal, relational, and collective experiences and mentorship connections that enhance or inhibit professional development and career advancement of native American faculty in STEM fields: A qualitative study.
2022
- A team-science approach to address water quality and security challenges and COVID-19 on the Navajo Nation
2022
- Development of a Culturally Anchored Qualitative Approach to Conduct and Analyze Focus Group Narratives Collected in Diné (Navajo) Communities to Understand the Impacts of the Gold King Mine Spill of 2015
2021
- Impacts to Diné activities with the San Juan River after the Gold King Mine Spill
2021
- Climate change impacts on Native American water resources: Engaging in culture-based solutions
2021
- Tribes and water management in the Colorado River, US.
2021
- One river unites Indigenous peoples across the Americas: A cultural exchange on the legacy of hydroelectric dam impacts on the Colorado and Tocantins rivers
2021
- Water in the Native world
2020
- Incorporating social-ecological considerations into basin-wide responses to climate change in the Colorado River Basin
2019
- Environmental Health Dialogue for Risk Communication with Diné Communities following the Gold King Mine Spill
2019
- Indigenous symposium on water research, education, and engagement
2019
- Emerging Voices of Tribal Perspectives in Water Resources
2018
- Engagement with indigenous peoples and honoring traditional knowledge systems
2016
- Merging Traditional and Western Approaches to Risk Management
2016
- Opening the Black Box: Using a Hydrological Model to Link Stakeholder Engagement with Groundwater Management
2016
- Climate change and indigenous peoples: a synthesis of current impacts and experiences
2016
- Engaging Southwestern Tribes in Sustainable Water Resources Topics and Management
2016
- Climate change and water resources management in the Upper Santa Cruz River, Arizona
2015
- Indigenous Experiences in the U.S. with Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship in the Anthropocene
2014
- A comparative analysis of Native Americans, non-native ranchers and farmers and mainstream America
2014
- Impacts of Climate Changes on the Water Resources of American Indians and Alaskan Natives in the U.S.
2013
- Examining Modeling Approaches for a Fire Affected Rainfall-Runoff Process
2013
- Mining and Environmental Educational Modules for Tribal Community Colleges and Universities
2013
- Climate change in arid lands and Native American socioeconomic vulnerability: The case of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe
2013
- Examining modeling approaches for the rainfall-runoff process in wildfire-affected watersheds: Using San Dimas Experimental Forest
2013
- Climate Change in Arid Lands and Native American Socioeconomic Vulnerability: The Case of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. In Facing climate change: The experiences of and impacts on U.S. tribal communities, indigenous people, and native lands and resources
2013
- Climate change impacts on the water resources of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the U.S.
2013
- Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe: an integrated approach and collaborative modeling framework
2012
- Evaluation of Seasonal and Annual Variations of Water Flow in Arid Soils Using Weighing Lysimeters
2012
- An Integrated Assessment of Climate Change in Arid Lands and Native American Vulnerability: The Case of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe
2012
- Changes in soil structure and hydraulic properties in a wooded-shrubland ecosystem following a prescribed fire
2012
- Low-Intensity, fire-induced changes of soil structure, physical and hydraulic properties
2012
- Tribal Water Rights, Water Resources Planning, and Water Management under Climate Change
2012
- Societal Knowledge, Assumptions and Preferences Regarding Climate Change in Nevada
2012
- Post-fire debris flow in the southwestern US An increase in risk due to climate change?
2012
- Perspectives from Ground Zero: Adapting to Climate Change in the Southwest: Key Themes from the U.S. National Climate Assessment Southwest Region Technical Report May 29-31
2012
- Closing the water balance for arid soils First results from a large lysimeter study
2011
- Effect of spatial and temporal variability of antecedent moisture content on model-generated runoff from an arid watershed
2011
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