Youth &
Early Professionals

Tribe:Walker River Paiute Tribe Undergraduate:University of Arizona

Crystal Miller is a PhD student at the University of Arizona in the American Indian Studies program with a double concentration in Natural Resources Management and Federal Indian Law & Policy. She has targeted her work to serve the Walker River Paiute Tribe, a place she calls home.

Tribe:Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians Undergraduate:University of Minnesota Duluth

“My goal is to come back to the Reservation and be a part of the Department of Natural Resources and local Tribal Colleges.”

Tribe: Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Undergraduate: Michigan State University

Dani is currently a Ph.D. student in the Center for Cooperative Ecological Resilience and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University (MSU), where her research focuses on the importance of ishkode (fire) for wildlife and decision analysis.

Tribe:Citizen Potawatomi Nation Undergraduate: Northwest Indian College

Mickki is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Native Environmental Science at Northwest Indian College and hopes to support the efforts of Indigenous communities in climate change mitigation and ecological restoration.

Tribe:Rosebud Lakota Sioux Tribe Undergraduate:South Dakota State University

"Growing up I spent most of my time outside, riding horses, swimming, hunting, fishing, camping, etc. Through all these activities I gained my love for Makha (Earth, nature, land, the world). I knew that I needed to protect and preserve Her so generations may see what we are fortunate enough to see every day."

Tribe:Nez Perce Tribe Undergraduate:University of Montana Western

"With my education, my goal is to continue the work that has been done to protect our fishing and hunting rights and to ensure our way of life continues for the years to come."

Tribe:Confederated Bands and Tribes of the Yakama Nation Undergraduate:University of Montana

"I joined the wildlife program because I would like to join Indigenous people in their efforts to preserve their cultural ways of life by conserving their natural resources and wildlife."

Tribe:Western Colorado University Undergraduate:Western Colorado University

" It has been my lifelong dream to become a fisheries biologist. I love to fish, and it is something I will never stop doing. I want to say thank you for this opportunity and choosing me as a recipient of the NAFWS scholarship and helping me inch closer to my dreams."

Tribe:Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Undergraduate:Oregon State University

"I had the opportunity to work with the tribe’s fisheries and discovered an interest in fisheries and conservation. It was through that newfound interest that I decided what I wanted to study in college, and I made my way to Oregon State University for their Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences program. When my time is finished there, I hope to come back to the reservation where I grew up and work in their fisheries."

Tribe:Aleut Undergraduate:Washington State University

"My educational pursuits are all in support of my life-long aspirations: enhancing the safe interactions between humans and animals by limiting Zoonotic diseases. This is all in an effort to benefit Indigenous Peoples through the perpetuation and enhancement of our subsistence living."