More information
Worldwide,
approximately
370
million
Indigenous
people
live
in
over
90
countries.
Although,
Indigenous
people
are
only
approximately
5%
of
the
world
population,
they
represent
90%
of
the
cultural
diversity
and
hold
20%
of
the
land
that
maintains
80%
of
the
world's
remaining
biodiversity.
However,
Indigenous
people
often
lack
access
to
energy,
water,
and
food
infrastructure.
For
example,
14%
of
U.S.
Native
American
households
lack
access
to
electricity.
Developing
technical
solutions
to
FEWS
challenges
requires
an
understanding
of
Indigenous
societies,
knowledges,
governance,
and
culture
and
the
ability
to
work
effectively
in
these
contexts.
This
talk
will
focus
on
a
NSF
funded
graduate
research
training
program
entitled
Indigenous
Food,
Energy,
and
Water
Security
and
Sovereignty
or
Indigi-FEWSS.
The
vision
of
Indigi-FEWSS
is
to
develop
a
diverse
workforce
with
intercultural
awareness
and
expertise
in
sustainable
food,
energy,
and
water
systems
(FEWS),
specifically
through
the
design
of
fit-for-purpose
water
and
controlled
environment
agricultural
(CEA)
technologies
to
address
the
lack
of
safe
water,
energy,
and
food
security
in
Indigenous
communities.
The
overarching
goal
is
to
provide
a
unique,
on-site
research,
and
training
opportunity
for
masters
and
PhD
students
that
bridges
engineering,
social,
and
physical
sciences.
We
combine
classwork,
internships,
teaching,
and
community
interactions
to
enable
trainees
to
tackle
critical
real
world
FEWS
problems,
with
an
understanding
of
the
cultures
and
sovereignty
of
Indigenous
peoples.
Speaker bio
The goal of Dr. Chief’s research is to improve our understanding, tools, and predictions of watershed hydrology, unsaturated flow in arid environments, and how natural and human disturbances affect soil hydrology through the use of physically based methods. It also focuses on how Indigenous communities will be affected by climate change and collaborated in an interdisciplinary group of scientists including hydrologists, system dynamic modelers, and social scientists to determine how hydrological models can be improved to identify and mitigate risks to these vulnerable populations.
Dr. Chief is a member of the Rising Voices, and Climate and Traditional Knowledges Workgroup with a focus on climate impacts to tribal waters. Two of her primary tribal projects are The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Climate Adaptation and Traditional Knowledge and The Navajo Nation Gold King Mine Spill Impacts.
She supervises and advises the research of 11 students, 10 of which are Native American working on topics related to tribal environmental issues.
The University of Waterloo is committed to achieving barrier-free accessibility for persons with disabilities who are visiting, studying or working at Waterloo. If you have questions concerning access or wish to request accommodations for this event, please contact Allie Dusome (adusome@uwaterloo.ca)