Trainee Update: Marquel Begay
Jan. 20, 2023
Marquel Begay (Diné/Navajo), a graduate student in Ecology, Management, and Restoration of Rangelands, working with Dr. Elise Gornish and Dr. Karletta Chief, received funds through the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Southwest Biological Science Center to improve understanding of how Navajo communities perceive wind erosion and dust emission risk in relation to cultural and natural resources.
Climate change and land use intensification place tribal lands on the Colorado Plateau at risk to accelerated rates of wind erosion and degradation. Sediment transport from wind erosion has cascading effects on ecosystem (soil and vegetation productivity, climate) and human health (respiratory illnesses, pathogens) and has intensified in recent years. Begay’s funded grant, “Wind erosion risk on Navajo Nation lands of the Colorado Plateau,” aims to improve understanding of wind erosion risk to members of the Navajo Nation through active tribal engagement, foundational USGS datasets, and proven mapping and modeling methods. Surveys will help assess wind erosion risk among community members and connect wind erosion vulnerability to Navajo cultural and natural resource values at risk.
In June of 2022, Begay was selected as one of 12 Native American students pursuing a higher education in Natural Resources to receive the Truman D Picard Scholarship.
In August 2022, she received the Tribal Agriculture Fellowship Scholarship, selected as one of the 10 Native American/Alaskan/Hawaiian students pursuing a graduate degree in agriculture with the goal of strengthening the flow of Indigenous professionals into tribal agriculture.
Congratulations Marquel Begay and much success in your future endeavors!