Past Keynote Speakers
Past Keynote Speakers
Dr. Shandin Pete
Dr. Shandin Pete is a Salish and Diné scholar from the Flathead Indian Reservation in Arlee, Montana. His academic journey is marked by a commitment to the intersections of geoscience, education, and Indigenous perspectives. He earned a Master of Science in Geology and a Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, with a specialization in science education, from the University of Montana.
Currently holding the position of Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences Department at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Pete works across the fields of geoscience, ethnography, hydrogeology, and science education. His academic pursuits are founded in the exploration of Indigenous research methodologies, social-political tribal structures, culturally congruent instructional strategies, and Indigenous science philosophies.
Dr. Pete's recent focus lies in comprehending the shifts within the Indigenous paradigm of research for science knowledge production. Collaborating closely with tribal knowledge holders across diverse Indigenous communities and academic scholars, his work delves into the exploration of traditions, customs, oral histories, and knowledge systems, particularly at their intersection with geoscience.
During his tenure from 2008 to 2020 at Salish Kootenai College, he served as faculty while co-developing their Hydrology program and establishing the Indigenous Research Center on its campus. At the University of British Columbia, Dr. Pete continues to advance understandings of Indigenous research methodologies, drawing inspiration from Salish philosophical commitments. His emphasis on environmental and geoscience disciplines underscores his dedication to fostering inclusive and culturally relevant approaches in academia.
Dr. Shandin Pete continues to work toward bridging Indigenous knowledge with contemporary scientific exploration, contributing to the broader landscape of education, research, and community empowerment.
Elizabeth Sumida Huaman- Professor, Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, University of Minnesota | "Ya’a huk nuna kayniyu” (I, one human being): Indigenous worlds, personhood, and research for the freedom to become.
Elizabeth Sumida Huaman is Wanka/Quechua from the Mantaro Valley, Peru, and associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She studies the relationship between Indigenous lands, cultural practices, and in and out-of-school learning with Indigenous communities and tribal institutions in the Americas. Centering Indigenous knowledge systems, her work examines several themes—first, the interfaces between modernity, exogenous and endogenous development, and Indigenous places; second, Indigenous community-based educational design and generative environmental pedagogies; and third, Indigenous and comparative frameworks and practices of decolonial rights. As an Andean Indigenous scholar, her goal is to advance Quechua research methodologies and research design, and she writes about these processes in fellowship with other Indigenous research methodologists worldwide.
Her related publications include Indigenous women and research: Conversations on Indigeneity, rights, and education (2019 special issue of the International Journal of Human Rights Education, with Tessie Naranjo), Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Research Methodologies (2020, Canadian Scholars’ Press, with Nathan D. Martin), and the forthcoming Indigenous Research Design: Transnational Perspectives in Practice (2023, Canadian Scholars’ Press, with Nathan D. Martin).
Elizabeth Sumida Huaman's Website: https://www.sumidahuaman.com/
Dr. Steven Semken - Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University | Place, Sense of Place, and Place-Based Education in the Earth and Environmental Sciences
Steven Semken is professor of geology and education in the School of Earth and Space Exploration; a Senior Global Futures Scientist in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory; and an affiliated faculty member of the Center for Education through Exploration, the Global Drylands Center, and the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University.
Steve is an ethnogeologist and geoscience education researcher whose work integrates geology, geography, ethnography, education, and technology. He investigates the influences of sense of place, of culture, and of affect on modes of teaching, learning, and doing research in the Earth sciences in the real and virtual realms. Before joining ASU in 2003, he taught for 15 years at Diné College, the Tribal College of the Diné (Navajo) Nation. Steve and his students work in the geologically and culturally diverse places of the American Southwest, Latin America, and the Caribbean; with particular attention to Indigenous and Hispanic/Latinx communities in these places. The goal of his research group is to apply place-based and culturally informed methods of geoscience teaching to foster improved access to geoscience studies and careers for underrepresented people, environmental and cultural sustainability in underserved regions, and greater public Earth-science literacy.
Steve teaches ASU courses in regional geology and sustainability of the American Southwest, in field geology, in the history of the Earth and Solar System, and in research-based Earth and space science teaching methods. He regularly offers popular public geological talks, workshops, and field trips for outreach, education, and teacher professional development at National Parks, State Parks, and other public lands across Arizona, and also online. Steve teaches courses in Arizona and Southwest geology for the local community through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at ASU.
Steve is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, a former Traveling Speaker for the EarthScope Program, and a Past-President and former Distinguished Speaker of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers. He was a Visiting Professor at the United States Air Force Academy in 1998. He earned a Ph.D. (1989) and S.B. (1980) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.S. (1984) from the University of California, Los Angeles. Steve has been recognized with the highest awards for undergraduate science teaching at three different institutions where he has taught: Arizona State University (Zebulon Pearce Distinguished Teaching Award), Diné College, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Goodwin Medal).
Steven Semken's Webpage: https://search.asu.edu/profile/635016
Dr. Brandy Toner | Professor, Department of Soil Water and Climate, University of Minnesota | The chemistry and transport of hydrothermally derived iron in the deep ocean: a particle’s perspective
Dr. Brandy Toner is a Full Professor in the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate (SWAC) at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and is a member of the graduate faculty for both the Land and Atmospheric Science (LAAS) and Earth and Environmental Science (ESCI) programs. Brandy's research expertise is in measuring the specific chemical form, called speciation, of metals in soils, sediments, and natural waters. At present, she spends much of her research time thinking about how microbes can “make a living” in the deep continental biosphere, how iron-bearing particles can be transported 1000s of kilometers from their point of origin in the deep ocean, and how to interpret particles detected on the surfaces of icy ocean moons like Enceladus. Brandy received her M.S. in Environmental Engineering and Ph.D. in Environmental Science from the University of California-Berkeley. She was a NASA Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and she is the 2nd woman Full Professor in the history of her department.
The Toner Lab: https://tonerlab.cfans.umn.edu/
Dr. Kathryn Schreiner - The Source and Fate of Organic Carbon from Land to Sea
Dr. Kathryn Schreiner is a an associate professor in chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Minnesota Duluth and conducts her research at the Large Lakes Observatory (LLO), a research unit within the Swenson College of Science and Engineering. Kathryn’s lab focuses on organic geochemical methods to study how pressures are influencing carbon flux and storage in dynamic systems. Current projects in the Schreiner lab include the study of organic sulfur in Lake Superior, plastic pollution in MN lakes, fungal contribution to soil organic matter, and marsh soils and organic carbon storage. Kathryn has also in recent years helped to launch a pilot program at the LLO involving active learning strategies and community partnership. Kathryn received her Ph.D. in Oceanography in 2013 from Texas A&M University. For her keynote presentation, Kathryn's talk will focus on the source and fate of organic carbon from land to sea.
The Schreiner Lab: https://kathryn-schreiner.squarespace.com/
Large Lakes Observatory: https://scse.d.umn.edu/about-0