Haury Program Awards Six 2025 Tribal Resilience Graduate Research Awards to Support Academic Pathways and University-Community Collaborations
The Agnese Nelms Haury Program (Haury Program) is a unique University-embedded philanthropy created by a major bequest in 2014 to honor the life and work of Mrs. Agnese Nelms Haury. The Tribal Resilience Graduate Research Awards program was designed in 2021 to strengthen the academic pathways at the University of Arizona for Native American and Indigenous Resilience students and scholars. “We are delighted to announce this year’s Haury Program Graduate Research Awards,” shared Toni Massaro, Haury Program Director. “All of the grantees are committed to using their advanced training here to advance tribal environmental resilience goals with skill and respect. Few things make us prouder to be part of the UA team that shares these goals, and to use our resources to support them.”
The 2025 awardees are Shawnell Damon, LaCher Pacheco, Chrisa Whitmore, Nieves Vázquez, Majerle Lister, and Matthew Tafoya. Their graduate research projects address a wide range of Indigenous Resilience topics relevant to water, energy and food. Five of the projects are taking place on or close to the Navajo Nation, and include studies of the intersection between the Covid 19 vaccine uptake and water security, water quality, impacts of frozen land tenure, access to healthy foods and storytelling in picture books. The sixth project is tackling a more general subject of science communication in water and soil quality research. The graduate students are pursuing graduate studies across the campus, i.e. at the Zuckerman College of Public Health, College of Education, Department of Environmental Science, College of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences, School of Geography, and Department of American Indian Studies.
Nancy Petersen, Haury Program Assistant Director added: “This is our fifth year supporting graduate students in the research stage of their journey at University of Arizona. What started as a means to recruit students with an interest in tribal climate resilience, these award have become a hallmark of the Haury Program. We are grateful to learn alongside such talented students, improving practices for universities collaborating with community to address our most serious challenges.”
Below are more details on each of the 2025 awardees and their graduate research projects:
Shawnell Damon is a member of the Navajo Nation and a Doctoral Candidate at the Mel and Enid College of Public Health Maternal and Child Health program, under the mentorship of Dr. Jennifer W. Bea. Ms. Damon's project is titled" A Mixed Methods Approach to Investigating COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake and Vaccine Hesitancy in Caregivers Who Have Children 6 months to 5 Years old." The principle of community-based participatory research guides the study which seeks to understand and examine factors that lead to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Navajo Caregivers with children under five. The data would benefit the Navajo Nation, the Navajo Public Health Team, and providers in understanding why children are not vaccinated against COVID-19. The results of this study may be applied to other pediatric recommendations, such as MMR, Hib, IPV, and RSV vaccines, to increase vaccine uptake.
LaCher Pacheco is from Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies in the College of Education with a focus on children's & young adult literature and environmental & sustainability education. LaCher’s dissertation, Responding to Picture Books about the Environment, bridges science and Indigenous ways of knowing. Her research focuses on reader response theory with her advisor, Dr. Kathy Short. As a School to Garden Workshop (SGW) Intern, LaCher has led educator workshops on Traditional Ecological Knowledge, agrivoltaics, and arts based education using picture books and storytelling. She is working with the SGW team and the Service to All My Relations Charter School to develop a Northern Arizona Almanac, an educational resource linking classroom learning with local agricultural knowledge and cultural storytelling. NSF-funded her 2024-2025 research which focused on career pathways in food, energy, and water systems within Native American communities (Native FEWS Alliance).
Chrisa Whitmore is a second year Ph.D. student in the Department of Environmental Science under the advisement of Dr. Joseph Hoover. Her project integrates geospatial analysis, community engagement, and human health risk assessment to investigate groundwater uranium contamination and its human health impacts. By integrating spatial technologies with her background in public health, Chrisa aims to produce research that will: 1) identify regions and populations at risk of elevated groundwater contaminant exposure; 2) characterizing the health risks associated with these potential exposures on livestock and people. Her interdisciplinary approach allows for a comprehensive understanding of both the environmental and biological dimensions of groundwater contamination, suitability for water treatment, and ultimately contributing to more targeted and effective public health interventions. She is particularly committed to translating academic findings into actionable solutions that reduce health disparities via community engagement. Chrisa wants to create research that is both scientifically rigorous and socially meaningful.
Nieves Vázquez is compiling a resource repository that encompasses a science communication toolkit for the Nìhì Lab, the first Indigenous-led Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering lab, in partnership with the Indigenous Resilience Center (IRes). The Nìhì Lab’s research emphasizes environmental restoration in Native communities affected by decreased water quality, mining, wildfires, and contaminated ecosystems, while also upholding Indigenous values like reciprocity, respect, and data sovereignty. The commitment to ensuring equitable and accessible science communication includes communities, students, and researchers. Nieves’ advisor is Dr. Cherie De Vore. The Nìhì Lab and IRes focus on environmental resilience through upholding a community’s ecological knowledge and how academic research can support local science - not replace it. Nieves is uniquely positioned to bridge the information access gap between Tribal communities and biogeochemical research by expanding the definition of science communication for resilient communities. The online repository will serve as a foundation for the sustainable involvement of community, students, and researchers for the lab’s future.
Majerle Lister is a Diné PhD candidate at the University of Arizona School of Geography, Development, and Environment. With Dr. Andrew Curley as his advisor, Majerle Lister’s dissertation project, "Thawing land relations: Understanding Diné land politics after a development freeze” examines the forty-three year development freeze and the impacts in a Diné community in the Navajo Nation, Tonalea. The freeze, known as the Bennett Freeze, is the product of the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute and was lifted in 2009. Diné community members were unable to construct new homes or buildings, renovate their homes, and to receive crucial infrastructure like water and electricity. The project explores how Diné experienced, understood, and navigated the freeze in their community. It documents Diné community members, government officials, and staff efforts to rehabilitate the Former Bennett Freeze Area in Tonalea after the lift. The awarded funding supports research activities for personal in-depth interviews and focus groups with community members.
Matthew Tafoya is completing his PhD in American Indian Studies, and plans to investigate the maintenance and sustainability of a CDC Partnership to Improve Community Health (PICH) grant funded program to increase access to healthy food and beverages within the Fort Defiance Agency of the Navajo Nation. From 2014-2017, a ‘638 Navajo hospital was awarded a 3 million dollar grant to decrease diabetes by 3% over a three-year period by implementing 7 interventions. By the end of year 1, the 7 interventions were either rejected by communities, or found to be not useful. In year 2, intervention changes were made that responded to community need and included community supported agriculture (CSA) in the form of community gardens and school gardens. This research project is to re-visit and assess 30 PICH CSA intervention sites and determine activity, access to healthy food and beverages, and if they have improved the social ecology. Matthew’ advisor is Prof. Melissa L. Tatum, Milton O. Riepe Professor of Law.
The 2025 cohort of awardees is joining the twenty two awardees from previous four years. To view the map of all projects funded, click here. One of the 2023 awardees, Ms. Nizhoni Tallas, (Dine), UA School of Natural Resources and the Environment Master’s Program student, spoke to significance of Haury awards in expanding Indigenous Resilience research and more:
“The Haury award significantly enhanced my abilities by providing crucial support that allowed me to bring my community together, develop new skills, and gain professional exposure. With the award, I was able to focus on building relationships within my home community of Rough Rock, ensuring that outdoor activities like disc golf were accessible, and promoting community well-being. A key aspect of the award’s impact was the opportunity it gave me to strengthen my people skills. Organizing events such as Outdoor Day helped me develop confidence in my ability to work with local leadership and community members. Through these events, I was able to make outdoor activities more accessible, particularly for the youth. Since the nearest disc golf course is hours away, introducing the community to this activity sparked interest in potentially investing in a permanent course. This could have a lasting impact on Rough Rock, encouraging more outdoor engagement and healthier lifestyles. Additionally, the Haury award’s support extended to my professional development by enabling me to attend the World Social Science Conference. Presenting updates on my community work and sharing my master’s research allowed me to connect with professionals who are also focused on uplifting their communities. These connections helped broaden my understanding of community-based research and inspired me to continue advocating for Indigenous self-determination and resilience. The Haury award not only empowered me to create meaningful change in my community but also provided me with valuable opportunities for professional growth and connection with like-minded individuals. This combination of community engagement and academic exposure will have a lasting impact on both my work and the Rough Rock community.”
For more information on past awardees and their projects, please visit Tribal Resilience Graduate Research Awards website.
And if you would like to meet the 2025 awardees and learn more about their projects, please join us on September 3rd, 2025, at 10 a.m. at the UArizona Arizona Institute for Resilience at ENR2 Building, Room 595 or via Zoom.
