A Platform Promoting Place-based Indigenous Knowledges, Indigenized Research and Future Generations.
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Paisley Sierra
My name is Paisley Sierra. I am a enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Nation but also descend from Sicangu, Mdewakanton, Wapekute, and Sisitonwan Nations. I grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation, in South Dakota. I am a recent 2024 graduate of the University of Minnesota Morris where I received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Environmental and Native American Indigenous Studies. During my time at Morris, I worked as an intern in the Office of Sustainability (https://sustainable.umn.edu/about), as a Garden Peer Mentor for the Native American Student Success Center (https://morris.umn.edu/about-morris/native-american-student-success-program-nass) and as the Student Coordinator for the Intercultural Sustainable Leadership (ISLe) Program. Through this work, I have been able to complete the first round of the Indigenous Languages' Phenology Poster Project which I curated to represent the Dakota Words of the Months with imagery to show the literal definition of the phrase in the natural world.
Now, I work as the Title VI Native American Liaison for the Vermillion School District where I get the opportunity to visit with, teach and plan culturally inclusive events for the Native Students within our district. All in all, the work I have done, and the work I am doing now, is driven by the empathy I have to create an accepting, inclusive, and sustainable environment that nurtures the mind and heart of everyone impacted.
Clement Loo
Clement Loo is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and the Student Success Coordinator for Equity, Diversity, and Intercultural Programs at the University of Minnesota Morris. Additionally, he is an Educator and a member of the Faculty Leadership Council of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. Finally, he’s also on the Board of Trustees of the Southwest Regional Sustainability Development Partnerships. His scholarship and teaching focuses on food justice and the intersection of equity and sustainability. In his free time Clement enjoys playing disc golf, hiking, and exploring the small rural towns of the Upper Midwest.
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Troy Goodnough
Troy Goodnough serves as sustainability director at UMN Morris, a Native American-Serving Non-Tribal Institution. Troy was the first sustainability coordinator hired in the University of Minnesota system and state in 2006. Troy works with students, staff, faculty and community to develop and implement sustainability initiatives. His work has included creating new educational programs, outreach initiatives, and renewable energy projects. Troy provides leadership to the nationally-recognized community partnership called the Morris Model, featured in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Troy also serves the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability, the West Central Clean Energy Resource Teams, Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership, and other sustainability-focused groups. During his tenure as director, Morris has earned the Second Nature Climate Leadership Award, and recognition by Sierra Club, Princeton Review, Minnesota Environmental Initiative, and more. In 2023 and 2024, the Morris Model won the Department of Energy-sponsored Energizing Rural Communities prize. Troy is an elected official to the Stevens Soil and Water Conservation District. Prior to his university service, Troy spent a decade in semiconductor start-up companies leading crystal growth operations for laser development.