4:45PM

Late Registration Available On Site

5:00PM

Mixer

Welcome to the 2026 AIIC Symposium! Join us for our opening mixer to kick off the event. Connect with fellow attendees over light refreshments and snacks.

6:30PM

Closing

8:00AM

On-Site Registration & Light Breakfast Treats

8:45AM

Symposium Welcome and Land Acknowledgement

AIIC Symposium Planning Committee Members

9:00AM

UCSB Undergraduate Native Education Talks (N'Ed Talks)

Moderator: Vivian LaPena and McKinley McPherson (UCSB, Sociology)

UCSB AIISA Undergraduate Students

10:00AM

Keynote:

Paulette Blanchard 

Introduction by Margaret McMurtrey

11:00AM

Haskell Foundation Student Panel

Moderator: Margaret McMurtrey (AIIC Director)

Summer Powell,  PhD student at the University of Kansas, "Diné people and women, and their ability to gain access to the Colorado River through law and policy."

Deana Teller, Diné environmental scientist, approaches her work through a Two-Eyed Seeing lens, blending Traditional Ecological Knowledge with Western science to advance environmental justice.

The Haskell foundation supports Native students through cultural preservation initiatives and educational opportunities that honor and uplift Native American traditions.

12:00PM

Lunch break

1:00PM

Relational Connections: Indigenous Collaboration Revitalizing Practices and Environments

Moderator: Margaret McMurtrey (AIIC Director)

Chair: Mia Lopez; Chumash, Coastal Band Member, Cultural Educator, Founding Director, The SPACE  (https://www.sunan-the-space.org/) Cultural Resource Protector, AIHS Bord Member, SBTHP Cultural Support, UCSB AIISA Liaison

Panelists: Carlie Dominguez, Elena Rios, Teresa Romero

2:00PM

Environmental Studies 194 TK Student Panel

Moderator: Reily Clark (UCSB, History of Art and Architecture)

Reese Raygoza, Student Instructor and Environmental Studies Undergraduate Student

Brandon Martinez, Student Instructor and History Undergraduate Student

ENVS 194 TK is a student-led course in the UCSB Environmental Studies Department that applies traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) principles to restore and tend a garden and wetland space on campus.

15 - 60 min break

3:30PM

Braiding Indigenous Knowledges Across Science and Digital Waterscapes

Moderator: Megan Baker (UCSB, Bren)

Sam Carter, Postdoctoral associate at the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment, “Braiding Indigenous Pedagogies in Digital Learning Design"

Fafa Van Ha, Master's student at the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment," Navigating Nibi Co-Stewardship in a Changing Climate"

Angela Teeple, University of Minnesota Medical School, "Listening to the Water With Neutrons: A New Tool for Indigenous Environmental Science"

4:45PM

Closing Remarks and Transition

Break and proceed to the American Indian and Indigenous Collective (AIIC) Center for dinner

5:30PM

Community Dinner 

Join us for a community dinner at the American Indian and Indigenous Collective Center (AIIC)  (Bldg 434 Room 107)

6:30PM

Dinner Closing

8:00AM

On-Site Registration & Light Breakfast Treats

8:45AM

Symposium Welcome and Land Acknowledgement

AIIC Symposium Planning Committee Members

9:00AM

Conservation Epistemology and Practice 

Moderator: Richard Montes Lemus (UCSB, Bren)

Nadia Ahmed, English graduate student at University of California Santa Barbara, "Elliptical Ephemerality: Resistance and Restoration in the Al-Ahwar of Southern Iraq" 

Ruby Gary, "Living at the End of the World: A Critical Engagement with Representations of Indigenous Climate Vulnerability”

Ian Hanesworth, "Hunting, Colonial Conservation, and Indigenous Refusal" 

Matthew Williams, "Negotiating Indigenous Futurities for the Colorado River Basin through Outdoor (Re)creation" 

10:30AM

30 min break 

11:00AM

Keynote:

Irene Vasquez

Introduction by Reese Raygoza

12:00PM

Lunch break

1:00PM

Conference Wrap Up and Discussion 

1:30PM

Conclusion