Tatiana Degai

Tatiana Degai is PhD candidate at the University of Arizona obtaining degree  in the American Indian Studies and Linguistics. Her dissertation research is focused on the revitalization possibilities of her ancestral Itelmen language in Kamchatka, Russia.  Being a member of the Council of Itelmens “Tkhsanom”, Tatiana is actively involved with various projects on culture and language development of Itelmens. She has a Master on Arts at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Anthropology and a teaching degree in foreign languages from Kamchatka State University. Therefore her research borders with indigenous education, sociolinguistics, ethnography, indigenous activism and revitalization.

Annabelle Gutierrez-Sisneros

Mra. Ana Malinalli X Gutiérrez Sisneros has been the Northern New Mexico College (NNMC)  Mental Health Counselor with the Title V !EXITO! Program for the last five years, and she currently holds an adjunct professor position in  both the ADN and the RN to BSN Holistic Nursing Programs in their School of Nursing where she teaches Community and Global Health; Integral Evidenced Based Practice in Nursing; and Psychiatric Nursing (clinical).  She is a Ph.D. candidate at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, N.M., working on her dissertation on Health Disparities at the Border Area, with a possible graduation date of Fall, 2016. She holds an M.A. in Latin American Studies, an M.S. in Nursing, plus a B.A. in Nursing all from the University of New Mexico; she has an ADN from the University of Alburquerque, having first started her career as a nurse’s aide, and an education aide.

Ana has spent the last 33 years working with underrepresented populations –  undocumented immigrants and Northern New Mexico peoples all living in surrounding local communities;  students from diverse backgrounds;  single mothers, and people in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction – as a researcher, teacher,  case manager, hospital nurse, counselor, advanced practice clinical nurse specialist, and a practicing médica  in the Rio Arriba County area , and she founded the Gay Straight Alliance at NNMC in 2013. She worked with EL RAEHA (the Rio Arriba Environmental Health Association) for nearly ten years and she has consulted for Tewa Women United, Local Collaborative 18, and other groups in Espanola.  She had a private counseling practice since December, 2007, which she closed in May of 2014 to concentrate on the completion of her terminal degree (her mom says “You’ll find something else to study once you graduate!”). So true.

Her professional objective is to apply her 33 years of rural nursing and twenty two years of nurse case management psychosocial intervention skills with her doctoral education and her dual masters degrees towards the improvement of the total health of all Southwest minority cultures.  Her emphasis is on culturally appropriate treatment of substance abuse, domestic violence prevention, and mental health strategies using healing traditions such as Curanderismo and the Wewepahtli  (Aztec /Mexikha indigenous healing practices), incorporating her Psychiatric / MH Clinical Nurse  Specialist education with the ancestral knowledge of her Indo-Hispano cultural heritage.

Kelsey Lamkin

Kelsey Lamkin is a student at Middle Tennessee State University, majoring in Anthropology and minoring in History. She will graduate in May with her Bachelor’s degree and begin pursuing her Master’s degree in Public History in the Fall. She has been researching the history of Native Americans in Middle Tennessee since September 2014 with her professors. Her research is focused on incorporating marginalized voices in the dominant discourse and paying tribute to their many contributions and achievements. She hopes that her work will help the National Park Service create a more inclusive narrative when discussing the significance of a particular area.

Gisela Rodriguez Fernandez

Gisela is originally from La Paz, Bolivia. She completed her undergraduate studies in Anthropology and Music performance and her M.P.H in Epidemiology/Biostatistics. As an undergraduate student, she won the Lambda Alpha Award for Best Undergraduate Paper in anthropology, and as a graduate student she was nominated the Community and educational outreach coordinator for the University of Southern Mississippi. In 2011 she was selected as a fellow for the Hispanic Serving Health Profession Schools (HSHPS) and in 2012 she was selected as a research fellow for Global Health Corps. For the next two years Gisela worked for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as a consultant for the Social Protection and Health division and as an outreach volunteer for the grassroots organization HIPS (Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive). Her work at the IDB turned into a three year qualitative research study about decision-making related to pregnancy and childbirth among indigenous communities in Mesoamerica. Gisela is one of the lead authors of this research that she will be presenting at the SfAA conference. Gisela is a current PhD sociology candidate at Portland State University where her areas of interest include political economy, reproductive and sexual health, and social inequalities among indigenous communities in Bolivia. Gisela has played the violin since she was ten, and she financed all undergraduate studies with music scholarships. She sees music as a channel for infinite connections that has the potential to transform peoples and societies through solidarity. Gisela enjoys jamming with other musicians, dancing, more dancing, biking and just simple yet super fun moments with her two best friends: her husband Rick and her mom Felicidad (Happiness in Spanish).

Melissa Watkinson

Melissa is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. She earned her Master of Arts degree in Policy Studies at University of Washington Bothell in 2015. She is now fulfilling a continuing education and early career fellowship through University of Washington, Washington Sea Grant. As a Marc Hershman Marine Policy Fellow, Melissa joins the marine team at The Nature Conservancy, where she brings policy and social science experience to projects working with coastal communities. As a graduate student, she worked as a research assistant at UW with both the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute and at Washington Sea Grant. Her capstone research employed cross-disciplinary research methods to better understand the impacts of historic and federal land policies and programs on climate change adaptation for tribal communities who are experiencing a loss of coastal land. She also served as co-president to UW’s Native Organization of Indigenous Scholars student organization. Melissa holds a double major bachelor’s degree in Global Studies and Society, Ethics, and Human Behavior from UW Bothell. Her long-term career goal is to work in the social sciences to address the needs of coastal communities and tribes affected by changing environments.