Jessica Barnes-Najor
Jessica Barnes-Najor is a developmental psychologist who focuses on engaging community partners in the research process. Barnes-Najor is a co-investigator for the Tribal Early Childhood Research Center, partnering with Indigenous communities across the continental United States to address community-defined research topics in early childhood education. Barnes-Najor is also a co-PI of Wiba Anung, an early childhood research collaborative of partners representing seven Michigan tribes. The research conducted by Barnes-Najor focuses on examining (1) the influence of Native language and cultural experiences on children’s development and (2) the cultural alignment of early childhood education and care theories and research methods. Since 2020, their work has woven Indigenous foods into early childhood education.
Jahi Chappell
M. Jahi Johnson-Chappell is a scholar, organizer, son of social workers, and grandson of Michigan farmers. He is the Director of the Center for Regional Food Systems and a Professor in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University, where he additionally holds the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Endowed Chair for Food, Society, and Sustainability.
Over the past 22 years, Jahi has researched and advocated at international, national, and local levels for participatory, socially just, and ecologically sustainable agrifood systems that center the voices of farmers, laborers, and the communities they serve. His work has been covered in The New York Times, The Baffler, The Intercept, The Counter, La Jornada (Mexico), Associated Press Wire, and Vice.
Robin Clark
Michigiizhigookwe (Robin Clark) is an Ojibwe researcher and practitioner, who works with Anishinaabe and Western knowledge systems to advance community-driven ecological stewardship and health equity. She is passionate about learning from and supporting good relations with plants, animals, and our other relatives - and co-creating knowledge, policy, and tools that are actionable toward these ends. Michigiizhigookwe is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and lives with her family in Baawiting. She earned a Master’s from Michigan State University and a doctorate in Forest Science from Michigan Technological University. Michigiizhigookwe is the founding owner of Megwayaak, LLC, an Ojibwe ecology research and restoration firm.
Douglas W. Craven
Douglas W. Craven feels that effective management of natural resources involves understanding human dynamics as much as natural systems. He is committed to the natural resource community of Michigan and has been on various boards/committees including the Great Lakes Leadership Academy Board, 2011 MSU Environmental and Natural Resource Governance Fellow, Getting Kids Outdoors Emmet County, Great Lakes Fishery Trust Board (current), Pellston Planning Commission (current). He has over 20 years of private and public experience in natural resources, has a dual degree in Natural Resource Management and Environmental Studies from Western Michigan University, is a father, dedicated community member and avid outdoorsman who appreciates exercising Tribal Treaty Rights and continuing Tribal traditions with his children and family.
Kaya DeerInWater
Kaya DeerInWater is from the Citizen Band of Potawatomi and lives in Wasëtenak (Grand Rapids, Michigan) with his wife and three children. He is the Biocultural Restoration Specialist and Plant Ecologist for the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, where he works to support TCUs and tribal communities in the simultaneous restoration of land and culture, such that the ecosystem services contribute to cultural revitalization and the rekindling of culture strengthens ecological integrity. He strives to support Native communities in developing relationships with plants and the land through reconnection with place-based Indigenous knowledge of culturally significant plants.
Robert Hart
Robert “Bobby” Hart is a Native American entrepreneur and founder of LIDAR Drone Services, a Native-owned company specializing in drone-based thermography, LiDAR mapping, and aerial data collection for energy and infrastructure projects across the United States. A member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and Ho-Chunk Nation, Bobby has built his career at the intersection of technology, land stewardship, and Indigenous leadership. He is also a speaker and author focused on advancing professional standards in drone thermography and helping organizations use aerial data to make better decisions about land and infrastructure.
Eric Hemenway
Eric Hemenway is an Anishnaabe/Odawa from Cross Village. He is the Humanities Manager for the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. Previously, Eric spent twenty years working in the archives for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. His work centers on telling Anishnaabe story through exhibits, curriculums, signage, public programs, media and publications. Partners include National Park Service, State of Michigan, Newberry Library, Yale, Harvard, Michigan State and numerous public institutions. He also has extensive experience under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
Martin Reinhardt
Dr. Martin Reinhardt is an Anishinaabe Ojibway citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians from Michigan and a descendant of the Garden River First Nation in Ontario. He is a retired professor emeritus of Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University. He is a member and former president of the Michigan Indian Education Council, and the lead singer and songwriter for the band Waawiyeyaa (The Circle). His current activities include serving as a member of the Food Sovereignty Committee for his Tribe, and continuing to learn about relationships between humans and Indigenous plants and animals of the Great Lakes Region, treaties between the Anishinaabe and others, and Anishinaabemwowin. He has taught courses in American Indian education, tribal law and government, and sociology. He has a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the Pennsylvania State University, where his doctoral research focused on Indian education and the law with a special focus on treaty educational provisions.
Nathan Wright
Nathan Wright, a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, is based in Petoskey, Michigan, and comes from a border tribe with deep connections in both the United States and Canada. He is a direct descendant of Chief Kagayosh, a signer of the 1836 Treaty that paved the way for Michigan’s statehood while protecting his tribe’s right to continue wild foraging. Nathan strives to embody bimaadiziwin, the Anishinaabek way of living in harmony with nature. He believes that plant‑based teachings must be learned through direct experience and a deep relationship with the land. Known as a modern-day bushman with a sense of humor, he has been chased by a cougar, charged by a bear, and even befriended an elk. Nathan lives the lessons he teaches, inspiring others to reconnect with nature and seek balance. He is the founder of Herbal Lodge, a Native-owned herbal products company grounded in ancestral knowledge. For more than 15 years, he has advanced food sovereignty, environmental stewardship, and natural remedies. Herbal Lodge produces high-quality, organic and wild-harvested products, including Minagin, a traditional pain relief remedy once overlooked due to colonization. The company is also the first east of the Mississippi to join the IAC’s American Indian Foods program, earning certification that verifies Nathan’s tribal citizenship and the authenticity of his offerings.
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