The AAAS STEMTalks is an interview series aiming to inspire youth by connecting them to real-life scientists and showcasing the incredible diversity of STEM careers.

Our STEMTalk series, including video and written interviews, can be found here.

GET TO KNOW ROSALYN

Occupation: Associate Professor
Institution: University of Montana
Focus: Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Environmental Justice

Rosalyn LaPier is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe from Montana and is also Métis. She received her BA in Physics from Colorado College and has a PhD in environmental history from the University of Montana. In addition to being a faculty member at the University of Montana, she is an award winning writer with numerous articles and several published books. An advocate for Indigenous people, her work has centered on language revitalization, environmental justice in indigenous communities, and she is committed to strengthening traditional environmental knowledge. Dr. LaPier is also the founder of Saokio Heritage, a community-based organization created by Native women interested in preserving the histories, languages, and traditional knowledge of Native peoples of the northern Great Plains.

In her free time, Dr. LaPier loves to read and/or listen to books. Over the course of a year, she has read and listened to dozens! A few of her favorite speculative fiction by Indigenous writers and others, are Cherie Dimaline's The Marrow Thieves and Rebecca Roanhorse's Trail of Lightning series. In nonfiction, she likes Briane Greene's Until the End of Time and Susan Orlean's The Library Book. But, she highly recommends, Charles Mann's The Wizard and the Prophet, as the book that everyone should read or listen to right now.

1. What is your job?

I am an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Montana. I am also a Research Associate with the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. 

I serve as the advisor to our “Indigenous Knowledge & Environmental Sustainability” focus area at the University of Montana, where I work with graduate students within Environmental Studies and across campus to learn how Indigenous peoples are moving toward revitalizing their communities, addressing environmental justice, restoring Native landscapes, returning to traditional food systems, reestablishing long held sustainable practices, and strengthening traditional ecological knowledge.

2. When did you first become interested in your field?

I was born into it! We use the word “ethnobotany” within the academic world to describe the scientific study of the traditional knowledge of plants used by Indigenous people. However, that word is rarely used within Indigenous communities. I was fortunate to learn about plants from my grandmother and oldest aunt. There are several generations of women herbalists and healers in my family. My grandmother learned from her grandmother and great-grandmother, who learned from their grandmothers.  I apprenticed with them for 20 years before my grandmother announced, “now you’re an old woman” (meaning I graduated). Some people think that traditional learning is haphazard, but it is intensive and rigorous. This traditional method of education took longer than getting my PhD at university!

3. What is your favorite part of being an ethnobotanist?

My favorite part of being an ethnobotanist is working with elders and other knowledge keepers. I get to work with some really great students, too. I also get amazing opportunities, such as a year-long fellowship at the Harvard Divinity School, where I researched the religious uses of plants used by Indigenous people and taught a graduate class on Indigenous people and the natural world. But probably my favorite thing is being able to spend a lot of time outdoors – literally in the field – talking to people, doing research, collecting samples and continuing to exercise traditional cultural practices.

4. What is a typical day like for you?

I spend my time balancing the three parts of academic life – teaching, research, and service. I teach both undergraduate and graduate courses in environmental studies and environmental science. I am fortunate to work with some amazing graduate students who come to Montana from all over the U.S. They are all doing such interesting research, for example, looking at Indigenous uses of fire on the landscape or how bison utilize native grasses. We have an M.S. program, not a Ph.D. program, however I also work with PhD students from other programs, such as wildlife biology, and they are also learning new ways to integrate Indigenous knowledge with western science. Some days I work with Indigenous organizations across the U.S. and globally to provide technical services to address pressing environmental issues.

5. Do you have any advice for young people interested in science, or the other STEM fields?

My advice to young people interested in science or STEM fields is to realize that anyone can do science or math. There is no such thing as people (or genders) who are “good” at STEM. There are just some people with more education or training, whether learned from a knowledgeable elder or in the classroom. 

However, having said that, students may struggle so they need to take advantage of all the tools available as they progress through school, from using online tutorials, office hours with the professor or TA, tutors, study sessions, and student groups.  And don’t quit if you fail a so-called “weed-out” class. New research has shown that students don’t fail because they lack ability, they fail because of old delivery methods or pedagogy versus newer methods. Next time, ask to take a different class, and do it again.

6. It is Native American Heritage Month. We’re celebrating some of the many Indigenous peoples throughout history who have inspired us. Is there someone who has inspired you or is still inspiring you?

I am inspired by Indigenous women environmental activists around the world. Women who stand up for the health and well-being of their homelands, which is not a safe stance to take. Last year, the international NGO Global Watch reported that there had been a significant increase in the killing of environmental activists in the past ten years, many of them Indigenous women.

I think it is important and necessary for scholars and scientists to stand up – given our privileged positions in American society – to similar issues. I helped organize the March for Science in 2017 and served on its national steering committee after I witnessed the dramatic shift in deregulation of environmental protections and the use of science on Indigenous lands. I also co-wrote the Indigenous Science Statement, to affirm Indigenous ways of knowing within the framework of “science” at the March for Science, with three other leading Indigenous scientists and scholars.

I am now inspired by our next generation. There are some amazing new Indigenous activists, women and girls, working to create positive change and address our coming climate crisis.

Hear More of Rosalyn’s Story:

• As Indigenous Scientists, agency professionals, tribal professionals, educators, traditional practitioners, family, youth, elders and allies from Indigenous communities and homelands all over the living Earth, please read the Indigenous Science Statement created in 2017 for the March for Science across the U.S.A. and the world.

• Discover her full story on her website: https://www.rosalynlapier.com.

• Interested to learn more about the career of ethnobotany? Listen to this fun and engaging podcast from Spark Science. The interview with Dr. LaPier’s moves from her background in physics to the stereotypes about Indigenous scientists and ends with a great tip for all foodies.

• The Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) has served as an inclusive organization dedicated to fostering the success of Chicano/Hispanics & Native Americans, from college students to professionals, in attaining advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership within STEM. Dr. LaPier was a featured speaker at the SACNAS National Diversity in STEM conference 2017 (see video above). You can listen to her story in this “SACNAS Interviews STEM Role Model.”