Timberley Roane (Lumbee)
Associate Professor, Director
Department of Integrative Biology
University of Colorado Denver
An Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Colorado Denver, Timberley Roane, Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, received her PhD in Soil, Water and Environmental Science from the University of Arizona and subsequently joined CU Denver in 1999. With additional degrees, a BS in Microbiology from the University of California Davis and an MS in Microbiology from the University of Idaho, Timberley teaches general microbiology and microbial ecology courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Highly collaborative and student-focused, her research program addresses the roles microorganisms, especially the bacteria, play in the biomonitoring and bioremediation of ecosystems impacted by toxic chemicals. Working within soil and aquatic environments, Timberley and her team strive to respect and honor the contributions microorganisms make to our quality of life and the world around us. Timberley is also one of the co-directors of the Environmental Stewardship of Indigenous Lands certificate at the University, in addition to being the faculty sponsor of the CU Denver American Indian Science and Engineering Society student organization, a mentor in the American Indian Science and Engineering Society Lighting the Pathways Program, and an ally of the CU Denver American Indian Student Services.
David Mays
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Colorado Denver
David Mays is a Professor at the University of Colorado Denver, where he teaches fluid mechanics, pipe network and sewer design, and hydrology (surface, vadose, and groundwater). As a nine-year-old boy, he filled sandbags to channel a river down State Street in his native Salt Lake City after the El Niño winter of 1982-1983. He earned his B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1995, then taught high school through Teach for America and worked as a contractor at Los Alamos National Laboratory before earning his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California Berkeley in 1999 and 2005, respectively. He has been at CU Denver since 2005, where he applies ideas from complex systems science to study flow in porous media, leads the graduate track in Hydrologic, Environmental, and Sustainability Engineering (HESE), leads the NSF-sponsored faculty learning community Engineering is Not Neutral: Transforming Instruction through Collaboration and Engagement (ENNTICE), and co-leads the NSF-sponsored certificate program Environmental Stewardship of Indigenous Lands (ESIL). He usually commutes from Park Hill to the Auraria Campus by bicycle.
Dr. Rafael Moreno
Associate Professor – Certificate Advisor
Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences
University of Colorado Denver
Dr. Rafael Moreno received his B.S. in Forestry from the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Mexico in 1982 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Natural Resources Management from Colorado State University in 1987 and 1992 respectively. He worked as a researcher for the National Institute for Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research (Mexico) and served as the Director of the National Center for Forest Ecosystems Conservation and Management (Mexico). He was Post Doctoral Fellow with the Organization of American States—SEMARNAP in collaboration with the University of Western Ontario (Canada) for a year in 1995. In 1996 he returned to Colorado as an Assistant Professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Subsequently, he was the Director of the Master of Science in GIScience program at the University of Denver for two years, and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences at UCD. Since 1996, he has taught courses in GISscience and technology, environmental science, land use planning and sustainability in natural resources management. His current research concentrates on the analysis of fragmentation and anthropogenic pressure on the forest areas, Decision Support Systems for forest management, and the use of Geospatial Open Source Software for creating local and Web-based spatial information systems.
Programs supporting local Native American tribes
and Indigenous students pursuing STEM fields
University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) – Environmental Stewardship of Indigenous Lands (ESIL) will work with the Native FEWS Alliance to 1) broaden undergraduate and graduate student participation in ESIL and Alliance courses, and 2) develop an Alliance-wide certificate program to supplement student STEM training with experiences in cross-cultural communication, facilitation, and Indigenous ways of knowing. ESIL will work to provide the Alliance with connections to non-academic partners and student opportunities for career training and employment.
The mission of the ESIL program is to broaden participation of Indigenous students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through education and community partnerships that promote healing and stewardship of Native land.
ESIL supports its mission by providing a safe space for Indigenous students and a coordinated certificate program of workshops, internships, and professional development that prepares graduates to liaison on environmental issues between tribal and non-tribal organizations. ESIL comprises representatives from tribes, government agencies, and academic departments at the University of Colorado Denver. ESIL provides scholarships up to $10,000 per year for degree-seeking students majoring in a STEM field and who are enrolled at least half time. Depending on financial need, scholarships may cover all or some of CU Denver’s tuition, fees, and other educational and living expenses. Scholarships are being provided by the National Science Foundation.
The ESIL certificate provides a unique training opportunity for students to combine a passion for protecting natural resources with a desire to communicate across diverse cultures and schools of thought.