Dr. Lydia Jennings Completes 50-mile Run in Honor of Indigenous Scientists
Nov. 1, 2021
Dr. Lydia Jennings couldn't celebrate her new Ph.D. in 2020 because of the pandemic. So, a few months later, she dedicated a 50-mile run to 50 Indigenous scientists!
Dr. Jennings is a member of the Huichol (Wixaritari) and Pascua Yaqui (Yoeme) Nations and holds a doctorate in soil microbiology. Her work is dedicated to environmental science and the essential role of Indigenous communities in these spaces. Jennings’ hope is to create more inclusive academic and environmental landscapes.
In place of her canceled graduation, Jennings instead celebrated by running 50 miles in honor of the Indigenous scientists and knowledge keepers who came before her. It’s a run to honor the past and present while looking towards the future, she said.
Jennings' doctoral dissertation work examined how the Tohono O'odham Nation reclaimed a plot of its land that had been leased and mined for copper. The reclamation process, between 2009 and 2019, involved tribal leadership using traditional knowledge to select a seed mix of plant species native to the Sonoran Desert, which was then incorporated into a strategy to manage mine waste.
"I am the product of the people who believed in me," Jennings said. "As I was running, I was thinking about everyone from the pre-K teacher or the elementary teacher who gave me extra tutoring, to my language teachers, to my professor in undergrad at my community college telling me I should do research, and all the people along the way who believed in me."
Congratulations to Dr. Lydia Jennings for completing the 50-mile run in honor of Indigenous scientists, and for the beautiful new film, produced by Patagonia, that tells the story and documents this journey on the Arizona Trail.
Read more about Jennings’ run and research from UA News.