Current position: Undergraduate student, Math and Science Department, Oglala Lakota College

Research interests: Ethnobotanical remedies and ailments, restoration ecology, medicinal plants and antioxidants, plant genetics and resistance to diseases.

BSA service: BSA Member (2019 - ); PLANTS recipient (2019)

Other service: Student Senate Vice-President of Oglala Lakota College (2019-2020), Student Senate President of OLC (2020 - ); Young People For Alumni Council (2019 - ); American Indian Science and Engineering Society member (2019 - )

Statement of Interest: When I did my first REU in the summer of 2019; that’s when I was told by my advisor to apply for this opportunity to attend the BSA Annual Conference in Tucson, AZ. While in Tucson, I was introduced to many amazing research projects all based around plants. I began looking into ethnobotany; in particular how some plants have certain healing properties more than others. As a result, it helped lead me to establish my own understanding of various indigenous plants and the ways in which we use them. I want others to see the importance of plant sciences and the role it plays in our world. I aspire to be a life-long learner of ethnobotanical remedies; I firmly believe that there’s a cure out there for every disease we have; we just have to tap into the traditional ecological knowledge. By serving as your Student Representative, it would allow me to deepen the connections that BSA has already established; while showing other students what the BSA resources have to offer.