People

The network of people engaged in Rising Voices is comprised of Indigenous and other scientific professionals from all around the world, dedicated to providing opportunity for Indigenous knowledge systems, wisdom, and science to be a valued contributor to climate change research and solutions.

Program Leads

Heather Lazrus

Heather Lazrus is a Project Scientist in the Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology Laboratory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. Heather is an environmental anthropologist and uses the theories and methods in the anthropological toolkit to investigate the cultural mechanisms through which all weather and climate risks are perceived, experienced, and addressed. Heather focuses on the interface between extreme weather and climate change and works closely with colleagues from diverse disciplines. Her research contributes to improving the utility of weather forecasts and warnings, reducing social vulnerability to atmospheric and related hazards, and understanding community and cultural adaptations to climate change. Heather has worked extensively in Tuvalu, New Zealand and the United States. Heather obtained a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Washington in 2009.

Current and recent research projects examine public perceptions of and behavior regarding flash floods (among residents of Boulder, CO), hurricanes (among vulnerable populations in Miami, FL and New York City, NY), and drought (among water users in south-central OK). Her work has been published in several journals including the Annual Review of Anthropology, Human Organization, Global Environmental Change, Weather, Climate, and Society, the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, and in edited volumes.

Dr Lazrus is the co-founder and co-organizer of the Rising Voices: Collaborative Science for Climate Solutions Program at NCAR which promotes and facilitates more cultural diverse weather, climate and adaptation science. She serves on the American Meteorological Society Societal Impacts Board and was a member of the American Anthropological Association Task Force on Global Climate Change (2011-2014).

Julie Maldonado

Julie Maldonado is a public anthropologist and the Associate Director for the Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN), a non-profit, link-tank for policy-relevant research toward post-carbon livelihoods and communities. In this capacity, she serves as the co-director of the Rising Voices Center for Indigenous and Earth Sciences. Julie is a lecturer for the University of California-Santa Barbara’s Environmental Studies Program and for Future Generations University. She is also a founding member of the Culture and Disaster Action Network (CADAN) and the Disaster Justice Network. Dr. Maldonado has consulted for the UN Development Programme and World Bank on resettlement, post-disaster needs assessments, and climate change. She worked for the US Global Change Research Program and is an author on the 3rd and 4th US National Climate Assessments.She was the lead editor for the 2013 special issue, Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples in the United States: Impacts, Experiences and Actions, and her recent book, Seeking Justice in an Energy Sacrifice Zone: Standing on Vanishing Land in Coastal Louisiana, emerged from years of collaborative work with Tribal communities in coastal Louisiana experiencing and responding to repeat disasters and climate chaos. The book was released shortly before the release of her co-edited volume, Challenging the Prevailing Paradigm of Displacement and Resettlement: Risks, Impoverishment, Legacies, Solutions.

Steering Comittee

  • Paulette Blanchard, Haskell Foundation
  • Cam Brinkworth, UCAR/NCAR
  • Kristen Luna-Aponte, UCAR/NCAR
  • Jean Tanimoto, NOAA Office for Coastal Management
  • Bill Thomas, NOAA Office for Coastal Management
  • Daniel Wildcat, Haskell Indian Nations University

Rising Voices Council

  • Christopher Caldwell, College of Menominee Nation
  • Dominique David-Chavez, Colorado State University
  • Katie Jones, NEON
  • Michelle Montgomery, University of Washington-Tacoma
  • Jasmine Neosh, College of Menominee Nation
  • Ava Hamilton, Independent
  • Marie Schaefer, Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center
  • Timothy Schneider, NCAR
  • Eileen Shea, CASE (CASE Consultants International)
  • Diamond Tachera
  • Kyle Whyte, University of Michigan

Annual Workshop Committees

Workshop Organizing Committee

Co-Organizers

  • Heather Lazrus, NCAR
  • Julie Maldonado, Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN)

Rising Voices 10 Organizing Committee

  • Eric Anderson
  • Paulette Blanchard
  • Katie Jones
  • Uros Petrovic
  • Diamond Tachera
  • Jean Tanimoto
  • Bill Thomas
  • Dan Wildcat

Phenology Working Group Leads

  • Katie Jones, National Ecological Observatory Network
  • Brian Miller, North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center
  • Alyssa Rosemartin, National Phenology Network

Community Relocation/Site Expansion Working Group Leads

  • Aranzazu Lascurain, Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center
  • Bill Thomas, NOAA