Advisory Council

The Advisory Council is composed of climate resilience professionals who work with or for Tribal Nations, Indigenous-led organizations, and Indigenous communities. The majority of Advisory Council members are Indigenous. Advisory Council members draw on their diverse experiences to provide guidance for the direction and scope of ICRN. In particular, they provide leadership that advances Indigenous self-determination in major thematic areas, including working across knowledge systems and ethical engagement of Tribal Nations, Indigenous-led organizations, and Indigenous communities in climate resilience work on a broad scale. The council meets periodically to consider activities and opportunities for ICRN.

Meet Our Council

Kyle Whyte

Kyle Whyte is George Willis Pack Professor of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. Previously, Kyle was Professor of Philosophy and Community Sustainability and Timnick Chair at Michigan State University. Kyle’s research addresses moral and political issues concerning climate policy and Indigenous peoples, the ethics of cooperative relationships between Indigenous peoples and science organizations, and problems of Indigenous justice in public and academic discussions of food sovereignty, environmental justice, and the anthropocene. He is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Kyle has partnered with numerous Tribes, First Nations and inter-Indigenous organizations in the Great Lakes region and beyond on climate change planning, education and policy. He is involved in projects and organizations that advance Indigenous research methodologies, including the Climate and Traditional Knowledges Workgroup, Sustainable Development Institute of the College of Menominee Nation, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians' Climate Change Program, and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. He has served as an author on reports by the U.S. Global Change Research Program and is a former member of the U.S. Federal Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science and the Michigan Environmental Justice Work Group. Kyle's work has received the Bunyan Bryant Award for Academic Excellence from Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, Michigan State University's Distinguished Partnership and Engaged Scholarship awards, and grants from the National Science Foundation.

Mike Dockry

Mike Dockry is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and was born and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He is an Assistant Professor in the University of Minnesota's Department of Forest Resources and an affiliate faculty member in the American Indian Studies Department. Mike’s research supports tribal sovereignty and fosters collaborative and respectful research relationships with tribal communities. Specifically, Mike's research supports interdisciplinary sustainable natural resource management research with a focus on: 1.) Tribal and Indigenous natural resource management and the integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge 2.) Strategic foresight and land management planning, and 3.) Institutional diversity and inclusion. He is an associate editor for the Journal of Forestry for tribal natural resource management, an elected member of the American Society for Environmental History’s executive committee (2019-2022), and a honored recipient of the 2016 American Indian Science and Engineering Society’s Most Promising Scientist award. Mike earned his PhD in the Forest and Wildlife Ecology Department at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Mike also has a BS in Forest Science from the University Wisconsin Madison and an MS in Natural Resources from the Pennsylvania State University. He has also worked as a US Forest Service Research Forester, the US Forest Service's Liaison to the College of Menominee Nation, an Environmental Planning Intern for the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, and a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bolivia.

Contact: mdockry@umn.edu

Rob Croll

Rob Croll is a policy analyst in the Division of Intergovernmental Affairs at the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) where he coordinates the Climate Change Program and provides policy analysis and operational experience to the Conservation Enforcement Division. The GLIFWC Climate Change Program was created in 2015 with the goal of integrating Scientific and Traditional Ecological Knowledges in order to provide a more holistic and culturally appropriate approach to climate change adaptation in the Ojibwe Ceded Territories in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. As Program Coordinator Rob oversees the activities of CCP staff, serves as liaison to tribal, state, federal, academic and NGO partners and works directly with counterparts at the eleven GLIFWC member tribes. Rob is a member of the Tribal Adaptation Menu author team and the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center Consortium Leadership Team. ​ Prior to GLIFWC Rob spent nearly 20 years as a Conservation Officer with the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, Bureau of Law Enforcement, retiring with the rank of Captain. His educational background includes a BS in Environmental Studies from Northland College and a Master of Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School. Rob is originally from southeastern Pennsylvania and now resides in northern Wisconsin in the 1842 Ojibwe Ceded Territory.

John Daigle

Dr. John J. Daigle is a tribal member of the Penobscot Indian Nation and lives in Old Town, Maine.   Dr. Daigle is a Professor in the School of Forest Resources at the University of Maine, Orono.  He received his Ph.D. in Forestry from the University of Massachusetts with an emphasis on application of social science concepts and methods to outdoor recreation and natural resource planning and management. In 2008, he became part of an interdisciplinary team of faculty at the University of Maine to identify the potential climate scenarios, and their probabilities, for Maine for the remainder of the 21st century.  He led a team that specifically explored the meaning of a changed environment as it relates to the Indigenous peoples of Maine. In the summer of 2012, he was an invited speaker at the Museum of American Indian in Washington D.C. at the inaugural meeting of the First Stewards Symposium.  This meeting was an important event leading to the development of a network of indigenous scholars and authors to coordinate efforts in reporting on climate impacts.  The following year two papers were published with co-authors in the Climatic Change journal – a special issue devoted to climate change and its impacts on indigenous communities across the United States. Dr. Daigle served as a review editor for a first ever Tribal, Indigenous, and Native chapter in the 3rd National Climate Change Assessment report. 

Melissa Lewis

Melissa Lewis is the Wild Rice Project Coordinator for the Lac Courte Oreilles Conservation Department. She received her B.A. in Public Policy with a minor in Sustainability from the University of California, Irvine. She is currently working towards helping her tribe prepare in addressing the community’s future climate change needs. Her free time is spent ricing, hunting, and being out in nature.

Bill Bernier

Bill is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. He is the Environmental Services Director for the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan (ITCMI) and is a Registered Sanitarian accredited through the National Environmental Health Association. Bill has been part of ITCMI for 10 years and works with Tribal communities in Michigan on various environmental health-related issues. In the past, he has worked with Tribes in Michigan on coastal management in regards to erosion, forest adaptation strategies in regards to climate change and ambient air quality. Bill is also a big advocate for indoor air quality and has worked with Tribal communities throughout Michigan on various indoor air quality issues. Currently Bill is working with Tribal communities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help Tribes and Tribal members access funding for energy efficient technologies including heat pumps, geothermal and solar, as well as funding to provide weatherization upgrades to Tribal homes and buildings. Bill currently resides with his family in Cedarville, Michigan, home of the Les Cheneaux Islands.

Contact: 906.632.6896 ext.115 bbernier@itcmi.org

Marie Schaefer

Marie Schaefer is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Community Sustainability on the MICARES (Michigan Community Anishinaabe Renewable Energy Sovereignty) project. This project works with eight Michigan communities, including two Tribal nations, to explore the impacts of climate change on these communities as well as the opportunities and barriers to renewable energy in Michigan. Marie has worked with Tribes across the United States and is of Anishinaabe (Odawa) and settler descent. Marie's work focuses on braiding Indigenous knowledges and scientific knowledges using community-based participatory approaches. She works to bridge knowledge systems and understand how collaborations between knowledge systems can contribute to sustainable futures. Marie earned her PhD in Community Sustainability at Michigan State University (MSU) and her MA in Applied Anthropology from Northern Arizona University where she worked with the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office of the Hopi Tribe. Marie’s dissertation focused on the impacts of settler colonialism on manoomin (wild rice) food systems and Anishinaabe gender systems. During her PhD, Marie worked as a Research Assistant at the Sustainable Development Institute at the College of Menominee Nation where she conducted climate change scenario planning workshops with Tribes across the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (NE CASC) twenty-two state region. In addition, during her PhD, Marie was also a Graduate Fellow of the NE CASC, a Graduate Assistant of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program, and was a founding member of the MSU Indigenous Graduate Student Collective.

Jerry Pardilla

Jerry Pardilla is the director of the USET Office of Environmental Resource Management. He has dedicated more than 20 years to tribal environmental and natural resources management, and cultural resources protection. Jerry has extensive experience with tribal governments, intertribal organizations, and intergovernmental partnerships. ​He was previously with the National Tribal Environmental Council, and has held leadership positions in the Penobscot Indian Nation. Jerry also served as a commissioned officer and rated aviator in the Maine Army National Guard. He is a traditional singer and dancer; and lives in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

Robin Clark

Michigiizhigookwe (Robin Clark) is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and lives with her partner and two teenagers in their community at Bawating. Robin is passionate about Anishinaabe forest relations and supporting community health through our relationships with plants. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies and a Master of Science in Community, Agriculture, Recreation, and Resource Studies, from Michigan State University. In 2021, Robin earned a doctorate in Forest Science from Michigan Technological University. She works for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians as the natural resources division director.

Kelsey Leonard

Previous Advisory Council

  • Chris Caldwell is an enrolled member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. He has over 25 years of technical, administrative, and leadership experience working for various Menominee Tribal institutions and federal agencies dedicated to sustainable forestry and natural resources management. His education includes degrees from College of Menominee Nation (AAS 2001), UW Madison (B.S. 2004), and UW Green Bay (M.S. 2014). From 2012-2020 he served as Director of the Sustainable Development Institute at the College of Menominee Nation where he led applied research, education and outreach projects centered on indigenous sustainability.​ Starting in February 2020 Chris became the interim president for the College of Menominee Nation and on June 25, 2021 became the official president for the College.

  • Hilarie was the climate specialist with the 1854 Treaty Authority governed by the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Hilarie’s role was to implement 1854 Ceded Territory Climate Change Adaptation Plan completed in 2016 through collaboration with Bois Forte, Grand Portage and Fond du Lac.

    Prior to joining the 1854 Treaty Authority, Hilarie worked with Minnesota Sea Grant as the climate change extension educator. Her education background includes a BA in International Studies and Spanish from University of Minnesota Duluth, a Master’s in Environmental Studies from Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada, and a Master’s in Marine Biology from University of Oregon, Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.

    Hilarie grew up in Chicago and currently lives in Duluth where she spends most of her time on, in, and around Lake Superior.

  • Gregory J. Gauthier Jr. was the Tribal College and University (TCU) AmeriCorps Tribal Resilience VISTA at the College of Menominee Nation - Sustainable Development Institute(CMN-SDI). Gregory is a member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and is a descendent of the Ho-Chunk and Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans.

    Gregory received his B.S. in Environmental Science at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh where he worked as the American Indian Student Services Coordinator upon graduation.

    Gregory’s focus was on community climate change planning efforts for the Menominee Nation, collaborative work with larger national partnerships with CMN-SDI, and working with other Tribes in the Northeast Region on climate change.

    Gregory developed partnerships with Brown University’s Climate and Development Hub to help initiate energy sovereignty initiatives throughout Indian Country, UW-Madison Nelson Institute on Climate Change and Community Engagement trainings, and other potential partnerships to help tribes become more climate resilient.

    ​His interest are to better understand climate change and the role of natural resources in the economy, in order to develop more sustainable methods and technologies of managing resources for future generations.

  • Jen Youngblood, is Mvskoke Creek and was raised in her Mothers traditions. Jen was born in California and raised at the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) Reservation. The CRIT Reservation spans the Colorado River between Arizona and California, located in the desert of the Southwest near Parker, Arizona.

    Jen is currently the USDA Forest Services’ Eastern Region Tribal Relations Special Assistant and has worked as Liaison to the College of Menominee Nation. Jen works frequently with other USDA and external federal agencies helping to ensure that agencies fulfill their trust and treaty responsibilities and recognize situations that require Government-to-Government consultation, notifying Tribes of these opportunities.

  • Thomas Kenote Jr. is a member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and a descendant of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. He was the Director of the Sustainable Development Institute at the College of Menominee Nation.

    Kenote holds degrees in Environmental Policy (B.A.) from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and a M.S. in Forest Ecology from the University of Minnesota. Kenote’s research is based in exploring the impacts of climate change on the phenology of forest understory plants on the Menominee Indian reservation.

    His research interests include tribal natural resources, tribal forestry, Indigenous ways of knowing, Indigenous phenology, climate change adaptation and mitigation, tribal capacity building.

    When Thomas is not working, he enjoys the outdoors, hiking, playing traditional lax and spending time with his family and 2 dogs, Gigi and Cante. ​

  • Kim Stone served as Policy Analyst and Climate Change Program Coordinator at the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC).

    Kim coordinated the implementation of GLIFWC’s climate change program activities, provided legal and policy leadership in analyzing a variety of climate change initiatives and their impacts on treaty resources. As part of this role, Kim worked with with federal, state, and tribal staff on climate change activities and policies. She also created and disseminated materials on GLIFWC, climate change, and treaty rights.

    Prior to assuming her role as Policy Analyst, Kim edited and assisted in the production of GLIFWC's comprehensive mining document, "Metallic Mineral Mining: The Process and the Price," including authoring the legal section.

  • Tansey Moore is a member of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony located in Northern Nevada. She is Western Shoshone, Northern Paiute and Navajo.

    She received her B.A. in Anthropology from Fort Lewis College and her Masters of Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School. Tansey has approximately 18 years of work experience with tribal governments. She has worked in various fields such as environmental, natural resources, cultural resources and sustainability.

    She served as the Climate Change Specialist for the 1854 Treaty Authority. She helped implement the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan, which is the foundation for the 1854 Treaty Authority Climate Change Program. Her work included conducting outreach and education on climate change impacts to natural resources. She developed and implemented projects to assess impacts of climate change in the 1854 Ceded Territory. She also engaged with other federal, state, and tribal management entities to expand partnership efforts.

  • Nisogaabo Ikwe (Melonee Montano) is an enrolled member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe) and currently resides on the Red Cliff reservation which is located at the northern-most point in Wisconsin. Montano is the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Outreach Specialist in the Climate Change Program for Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) in Odanah WI. Through this position she primarily visits with traditional harvesters and knowledge-holders who are Tribal members of the GLIFWC member Tribes, in order to obtain TEK. Through the knowledge obtained during those visits, Montano assists GLIFWC in determining which species are gathered at designated study sites, which species may be impacted by climate change, and how changes may impact future harvesting practices.  ​ Montano holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Northland College in Health Care Administration with a dual emphasis on Native American Environmental Studies. Formerly Montano held the position as the Environmental Director for the Red Cliff Tribe. She holds a combination of both environmental and cultural knowledge obtained through employment, carrying out seasonal harvesting activities, and participating in ceremonies.

  • Lisa Brooks is an Abenaki writer and scholar who lives and works in the Kwinitekw (Connecticut River) Valley. She is Associate Professor of English and American Studies at Amherst College and is active in the Five College Native American and Indigenous Studies Program, which she chaired from 2013-2017.

    She has sustained a longstanding commitment to Indigenous environmental issues and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. While an undergraduate at Goddard College, Brooks worked in the tribal office of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, on aboriginal rights and land preservation cases; this was the place she received her most important education—on the land and at kitchen tables, with other Abenaki community members.

    Her first book, The Common Pot: The Recovery of Native Space in the Northeast (University of Minnesota Press 2008), received the Media Ecology Association's Dorothy Lee Award for Outstanding Scholarship in the Ecology of Culture in 2011. She recently published her second book, Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip’s War, which centers Indigenous histories and environments. With her sister, environmental studies scholar Cassandra Brooks, she published “The Reciprocity Principle and ITEK: Understanding the Significance of Indigenous Protest on the Presumpscot,” in the International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies in 2010. She has also published articles in Northeastern Naturalist, Studies in American Indian Literatures, William and Mary Quarterly, and American Literary History. Brooks served on the inaugural Council of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) and has long served on the Advisory Board of Gedakina, a non-profit organization focused on Indigenous cultural revitalization, traditional ecological knowledge, and community wellness in New England.

    Although rooted in her Abenaki homeland, Brooks’s scholarship has been widely influential in transnational networks. She co-authored the collaborative volume, Reasoning Together: The Native Critics Collective (2008), and wrote the “Afterword” for American Indian Literary Nationalism (2006). She served on the inaugural Council of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA), and currently serves on the Editorial Board of Studies in American Indian Literatures and Ethnohistory, as well as the Advisory Board of Gedakina, a non-profit organization focused on Indigenous cultural revitalization, educational outreach, and community wellness in New England. Brooks’s most recent project is The Queen’s Right, the Printer’s Revolt, and the Place of Peace, a book that reframes the historical landscape of “the first Indian War,” more widely known as King Philip’s War (forthcoming from Yale University Press in 2017).