Melanie Lenart, Ph.D.
WRITINGS: SUSTAINABILITY
​
Arizona Daily Star
​
Arizona Water Resources
Native Science Report
-
Money Growing on Trees Tribes were once criticized for failing to “develop” their land. Now their sustainably managed forests are generating income through the carbon market...
-
Fire as Medicine Salish Kootenai College’s new graduate program in natural resources emphasizes fire ecology...
-
Agriculture by Design At the Institute of American Indian Arts, gardening is both an art and a science. At the Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe...
-
Diabetes on Tap A partnership between the University of Arizona and Diné College is studying the connection between arsenic-contaminated drinking water...
-
Greenhouse designed to promote food sovereignty Diné College is testing a new solar powered greenhouse that...
-
Indigenous Knowledge Goes to Washington The Biden administration is pledging to incorporate traditional ecological knowledge into federal policy making...
-
Bringing a River Back to Life As the desert southwest becomes hotter and drier, the Gila River Indian Community of Arizona is showing how it’s possible to both restore...
-
Weaving Worldviews In a climate many outsiders find inhospitable, Iḷisaġvik College science instructor Linda Nicholas-Figueroa, a transplant from the...
-
Searching for Equity in Agriculture Federal funding to tribal colleges for agriculture-related programs will grow, but not as much as hoped, according to speakers at the ...
-
Plants as Partners Students at the College of the Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma are using plants to remove heavy metals from wetlands contaminated by oil ...
-
Just Good Business In a state where oil is king, North Dakota’s tribal colleges are putting their bets on renewable energy. North Dakota isn’t the first...
-
New Beginnings on Ancestral Land Inspired by South Dakota State University’s Wokini Initiative and supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s New ...
-
Shifting Seasons A phenology project at College of Menominee Nation is monitoring the impact of climate change on the region’s forests. . If plants could...
-
Combining Cultures To attract and support Native students in science, STEM faculty can—and should—more fully integrate western and Native worldviews...
-
Getting to Know the Trees Leech Lake Tribal College’s growing forestry program will help the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe manage a recently expanded land base.
-
A New Era Free tuition, bigger Pell grants, and more support for STEM research, healthcare, and broadband are among Biden administration policy...
-
Small Grants, Big Impact The National Science Foundation’s Small Grants for Research program promotes faculty recruitment and retention within tribal colleges...
-
Building Better Research Relationships Scholars from mainstream institutions too often see Native peoples simply as a source of data. A recent webinar outlined the problem...
-
Being a Good Ancestor Native communities must become leaders in the fight against climate change. “I see this as a crisis,” said Winona LaDuke in an address...
-
Listen First Salish Kootenai College’s new Indigenous Research Center draws on the expertise of Native scholars nationwide. What makes scholarly...
-
Closed But Not Quiet Faculty workshops and student research experiences move online as most tribal college campuses remain closed over the summer. Tribal...
-
Growing Sovereignty The Native American Agriculture Fund is promoting food production in Indian Country after decades of discrimination by the USDA...
-
A Foot in the Door Currently, only mainstream land grant universities are eligible for funding through the Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program...
-
NIFA Director Calls Tribal Colleges ‘High Priority’ J. Scott Angle, director of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, says programs that support tribal colleges will be a ...
-
Finding Common Ground On the twenty-fifth anniversary of their designation as land grant institutions, tribal colleges are working to strengthen ...
-
The Soul of a Seed Teaching agriculture at the intersection of western and Native science The longer I work at a tribal college, the more I feel it’s...
​
San Juan Star
Scientific American
The Tucson Green Times
-
Paper Cups Runneth Over "As the coffee sloshed onto the coat in my arms to the beat of my steps, I regretted my decision to pick up my morning brew in the standard paper cup. It would be a small cup, I had rationalized, and I’d probably save 10 minutes by dropping in at Caffé Luce before going to my office, where I had left my travel mug."
-
When Litter Is Good "Soil often travels in the Southwest. Dust forms clouds that block highways. Sand dunes creep around the landscape, consuming back yards in northern Arizona. Finding a way to hold it down would save lives and land."
-
Wildlife Rehab "Dying birds have a specific smell, an acrid one that stinks of failure. I got a reminder of that whiff in late April, when I came across a baby sparrow in my backyard. ... So I was thrilled to hear from a friend that there’s a place in town – Forever Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center – where knowledgeable people care for baby birds along with a host of other young and injured animals."
-
A Curbside Orchard "Using the shovel end as a ruler, Laura Mielcarek checked the depth of the hole we had just dug next to the driveway. “Maybe a little deeper,” said Mielcarek, a landscape architect, eyeballing the mini-channel designed to divert water from the street into this pit. Soon it would host a plum tree."
Tucson Citizen
-
Reduce small trees’ choke hold on Arizona forests
Tucson Weekly
​