NCRE Scholars

Alexis Merculief (Aleut)

Phd Candidate, Oregon State University

merculia@oregonstate.edu

Alexis is an Aleut tribal member and a current fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Human Development and Family Studies program at Oregon State University. Alexis grew up in Washington State and earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology at Seattle Pacific University in 2013. Alexis then spent several years as an education advocate, social worker, and youth program manager supporting Native children and families in the Seattle area before returning to graduate school in Oregon. For fun, Alexis enjoys hiking, road trips, trying out new recipes, and competing with her trivia team, the Quizzly Bears.

Alexis' research centers on how early childhood executive function skills (EF) influence school readiness and other future health outcomes, specifically for children from underserved communities. Alexis is also interested in how adverse built and social environments (including aspects of neighborhood poverty, exposure to environmental toxins, and experiences of social isolation and discrimination) may influence EF in early childhood. Importantly, her work explores the protective influence of community and cultural resilience factors on EF in the presence of these adverse environments. Alexis hopes to uplift Native communities with her work by using her research to demonstrate how indigenous cultural practices and strong indigenous or tribal identity can predict healthy development in childhood and beyond. In addition, she hopes to use her research to help communities define and measure typical constructs of healthy development (e.g., self-regulation or executive function skills) in ways that are culturally meaningful and relevant to them.

Publications

McClelland, M.M., Gonzales, C.R., Cameron, C.E., Geldhof, G.J., Bowles, R.P, Nancarrow, A.F., Merculief, A., & Tracy, A. (2021). The head-toes-knees-shoulders revised: Links to academic outcomes and measures of EF in young children. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1-14.

Gonzales, C., Merculief, A., McClelland, M.M., & Ghetti, S. (2022). The development of uncertainty monitoring during kindergarten: Change, and longitudinal relations with executive function and vocabulary in children from low‐income backgrounds. Child Development, 93(2), 524-539. 

Cary Waubanascum, MSW, PhD (Oneida Nation citizen, Menominee, Forest County Potawatomi, Stockbridge-Munsee)

Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

waubanac@uwgb.edu

Dr. Cary Waubanascum is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, Wakeny^ta (Turtle Clan), with ancestral roots in the Menominee, Forest County Potawatomi, and Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Nations of Wisconsin. She is an Assistant Professor in the Social Work Professional Programs at the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay. In July 2021, she earned a doctorate from the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities in Mni Sota Makoce. Cary is an Aknulha (Mother/Aunty) to her son, daughter, and many nephews. Along with her husband, Lance, Cary and her family enjoy playing board games, going to the movies, and going on new adventures. 

Cary’s research broadly focuses on decolonization in social work and reclaiming Indigenous lifeways. Her dissertation, titled “This is how we show up for our relatives: Understanding how Indigenous relative caregivers embody traditional kinship to resist the colonial child welfare system,” uncovered specific forms of ongoing colonialism perpetuated by the modern child welfare system. It also highlights the knowledge of Indigenous relative caregivers who are living and passing on their kinship knowledge and practices to resist child welfare systems and protect Indigenous children from ongoing colonialism and removal. Cary’s research is grounded in Indigenous research methodologies, knowledge, and practice, which aims to reclaim and strengthen Indigenous kinship for healing, prevention, and healthy Indigenous futures. Her work has implications for decolonization for Tribes, child welfare, and social work practice, policy, and education. 

Publications

Waubanascum, C. (2021). This is how we show up for our relatives”: Understanding how Indigenous relative caregivers embody traditional kinship to resist the colonial child welfare system. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

Waubanascum, C., Haight, W., Glesener, D., Day, P., Bussey, B., & Nichols, K. (2022). The Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies: Students’ experiences of an Anishinaabe-centered social work education program. Children and Youth Services Review, 136.

Johnston-Goodstar, K., Waubanascum, C., & Eubanks, D. (In press). Human Services for Indigenous Futures. In Bauerkemper, J. & Webster, R. (Eds.), Tribal Administration Handbook. 

Haight, W., Waubanascum, C., Glesener, D., Day, P., Bussey, B., & Nichols, K. (2020). The Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies: Systems change through a relational Anishinaabe worldview. Children and Youth Services Review, 119, 105601. 

Haight, W., Waubanascum, C., Glesener, D., Day, P., Bussey, B., & Nichols, K. (2019). The Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies: Reducing disparities through Indigenous social work education. Children and Youth Services Review, 100, 156-166.

Haight, W., Waubanascum, C., Glesener, D., & Marsalis, S. (2018). A scoping study of Indigenous child welfare: The long emergency and preparations for the next seven generations. Children and Youth Services Review, 93, 397-410.

Lauren White, MSW (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma)

PhD Student, University of Michigan

lawhi@umich.edu

Lauren White is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and she grew up playing outside and gardening with her family on the post-removal lands of the Choctaw Nation in Southeastern Oklahoma. As a young adult, Lauren moved to Seattle where she met her husband, Travis, and spent almost 10 years working in research administration and earning an MPH in Epidemiology at the University of Washington. Currently, she lives with her husband and two dogs in Ypsilanti, Michigan, as she completes her PhD in Social Work and Social Psychology at the University of Michigan.

Lauren's research focuses on strengths-based interventions, especially those centering self-determination for Native people through the development and implementation of interventions for anxiety, depression, and suicide prevention. Her current work is focused on interventions that expand upon clinical approaches through culturally responsive and community-led upstream interventions for adolescent suicide prevention. Lauren uses Mixed Methods in her research and is excited about combining qualitative, quantitative, and Indigenous theories of rigor in her research partnerships with Native tribes and organizations. Her career goal is to serve in a position teaching and mentoring Native students and conducting research that partners with rural and Indigenous communities to spark institutional changes in the way we tackle mental health. 

Publications

Kuhn, N., Sarkar, S., White, L. A., Hoy, J., McCray, C., & Lefthand-Begay, C. (2020). Decolonizing risk communication: Indigenous responses to COVID-19 using social media. Journal of Indigenous Social Development, 9(3), 193-213.

Kapos, F. P., White, L. A., Schmidt, K. A., Hawes, S. E., & Starr, J. R. (2020). Risk of non-syndromic orofacial clefts by maternal rural-urban residence and race/ethnicity: A population-based case-control study in Washington State 1989-2014. Paediatric and
Perinatal Epidemiology, 35(3), 292-301. 

Rogers, L. O., Kiang, L., White, L. A., Calzada, E. J., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Byrd, C., ... & Whitesell, N. (2020). Persistent concerns: Questions for research on ethnic-racial identity development. Research in Human Development, 17(2-3), 130-153.

Williams, C. D., Byrd, C. M., Quintana, S. M., Anicama, C., Kiang, L., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Calzada, E.J., Gautier, M. P. Ejsi, K., Tuitt, N. R., Martinez-Fuentes, S., White, L. A., Marks, A., Rogers, L. O., & Whitesell, N., (2020). A lifespan model of ethnic-racial identity. Research in Human Development, 17(2-3), 99-129. 

Trout, L., McEachern, D., Mullany, A., White, L. A., & Wexler, L. (2018). Decoloniality as a framework for Indigenous youth suicide prevention pedagogy: Promoting community conversations about research to end suicide. American Journal of Community Psychology, 62(3-4), 396-405.

Rebecca Ipiaqruk Young, MA (Kawerak Iñupiaq; Adopted into the Galyáx Kaagwaantaan [Eagle Beaver-Wolf] clan of Yakutat, Alaska)

PhD Student, University of Alaska Anchorage

rmyoung2@alaska.edu

Rebecca Ipiaqruk Young is Kawerak Iñupiaq (tribal member of Unalakleet) and second-generation Cuban-American who was adopted into the Galyáx Kaagwaantaan (Eagle Beaver Wolf) clan of Yakutat, Alaska. She lives and learns on the ancestral land of the Dena'ina People, currently known as Anchorage, Alaska. She earned her master's degree in counseling psychology from Alaska Pacific University and is currently a third-year doctoral student in the clinical-community psychology (with an Indigenous and rural emphasis) program at the University of Alaska Anchorage. With the help of her ancestors, Rebecca is a protector of cultural sovereignty through decolonization and believes decolonization can awaken healing traditions and restore balance for the interest of all beings, seen and unseen. Rebecca enjoys connecting with Elders, gardening from seed, picking berries, and preparing salmon for smoking and canning.  

Rebecca has been in serviceship for the Alaska Native (AN) Community Advancement into Psychology program for the past two years and was an Alaska Area Health Education Centers scholar. Rebecca is currently a research assistant on a Sustainable Development Working Group project for the Arctic Council, collaborating with Tribal communities in Southwest Alaska to understand perspectives on the local responses to regional, state, and federal COVID-19 related policies. She recently completed a study that explored the potential moderating effect of AN spirituality and cultural connectedness on the relationship between historical loss and well-being. The hierarchical linear regression analyses suggested that high cultural connectedness significantly moderated the relationship between thoughts about historical loss and psychological, occupational, and economic wellbeing. Rebecca hopes to join Elders and communities to further explore cultural connectedness in terms of behavioral interventions that have the potential to mitigate social consequences of historical loss and improve the quality of life for AN children, families, and tribes. As a clinician, Rebecca has been a licensed professional counselor for ten years and is also a certified brain injury specialist. She is currently pursuing further education and training in neurocognitive assessment and rehabilitative care related to acquired traumatic brain injury.

Emma Elliott-Groves, PhD, MSW (Cowichan)

Assistant Professor, University of Washington

emmae@uw.edu

Emma Elliott-Groves is an enrolled member of the Cowichan Tribes on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She grew up in Deerholme and Quamichan and is grateful for her ancestral territories, cultural and ceremonial practices, and community for showing her what it means to be a xwulmuxw mustímuxw (First Nations) person. She values spending time with her husband and two young children. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Learning Sciences and Human Development in the College of Education at the University of Washington. She holds both a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and a Master of Social Work in Children, Youth, and Families.

A large part of her research centers on understanding the meanings and explanations of suicidal behavior from the perspective of Indigenous peoples. By employing a strengths-based approach to recovery, Emma rigorously engages youth, families, and communities in the development of integrated behavioral health interventions to address complex social issues including those that are relevant to youth substance use prevention. Her research centers ethical frameworks generated by Indigenous and land-based knowledges and practices to create process-centered approaches that illuminate Indigenous pathways toward collective livelihood. Emma is currently partnering with members of the Cowichan Tribes in a research study aimed at identifying the physical, mental, intellectual, and cultural health of the community by engaging Indigenous ways of knowing. The interdisciplinary intersections of her research include contemporary Indigenous issues; culture, learning, and human development; and trauma, prevention, and recovery.

Publications

Elliott-Groves, E., Hardison-Stevens, D., & Ullrich, J. (accepted). Indigenous Relationality is the Heartbeat of Indigenous Existence during COVID-19. [Special issue]. Journal of Indigenous Social Development. (Eds. Mataira, P, Araullo Tanemura Morelli, P., & Spencer, M.).

Henne–Ochoa, R., Elliott–Groves, E., Meek, B. A., & Rogoff, B. (2020). Pathways forward for Indigenous language reclamation: Engaging Indigenous epistemology and learning by observing and pitching in to family and community endeavors. The Modern Language Journal, 104(2), 481-493.

Elliott-Groves, E. (2019). A culturally-grounded biopsychosocial assessment utilizing Indigenous ways of knowing with the Cowichan Tribes. [Special issue]. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, Advances in Social Work Practice with Multicultural Communities, 17(4), 115-133. 

Elliott-Groves, E. (2018). Insights from Cowichan: A hybrid approach to understanding suicide in one First Nations’ Collective. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 48(3), 328-339. 

Elliott-Groves, E., & Fryberg, S. (2017). “A future denied” for 21st century Indigenous youth: Reclaiming the future. [Handbook Chapter]. Handbook of Indigenous Education. (Eds. McKinley, E. & Smith, L.T.). Springer, Singapore. 

Amanda Hunter, PhD, MPH (Pascua Yaqui)

Postdoctoral Scholar, Northern Arizona University

amu22@nau.edu

Amanda Hunter is a citizen of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and was born and raised in Tucson, AZ. Amanda recently moved to Flagstaff, Arizona and enjoys spending time exploring outdoors with her family. She loves to hike, camp, read fiction novels, and has recently picked up a love for disc golf. In 2020, she graduated with a PhD from the Health Promotion Sciences Department at the University of Arizona’s Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. Amanda also earned her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Arizona. Amanda is currently a postdoctoral scholar with Northern Arizona University’s Center for Health Equity Research. She is working under the supervision of Dr. Julie Baldwin and also working towards a graduate certificate in Translational Research in Adolescent Behavioral Health.

Amanda’s research focuses on the impact of cultural engagement and cultural identity on mental and behavioral health outcomes in Indigenous youth. Her dissertation research involved developing, implementing, and evaluating a culturally-grounded after school program on an urban-based reservation. Amanda is interested in continuing to develop culturally-grounded after school programs for Indigenous youth and is currently seeking funding to work with more communities in Arizona. Her goal is to learn about how increasing cultural engagement can positively impact Indigenous communities while helping youth avoid risky behaviors, including substance use. Amanda is also excited about creating positive and mutually beneficial partnerships between tribal communities and academic settings.

Publications

Hunter, A. M., & Tippeconic-Fox, M. J. (2020). Strengthening the link between education policy, culturally responsive schooling, and American Indian and Alaska Native Health. Journal of Indigenous Early Childhood Education, 1(1), 15-28. 

Susanna Lopez, MS

PhD Candidate, Oklahoma State University

susie.lopez10@okstate.edu

Susanna (“Susie”) Lopez grew up in Amarillo, TX and is currently a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology program at Oklahoma State University. This year, Susie is applying for predoctoral internship positions where she hopes to gain clinical experiences in addictions treatment and behavioral medicine, and aims to serve American Indian and other diverse and underserved populations. Her long-term career goal is to become an independent clinical health psychologist at an academic health and research institution. In her spare time, Susie enjoys yoga, crocheting, and playing her violin.

Susie’s research centers on psychosocial factors related to alcohol use among college students, risk factors for alcohol use and subsequent risky sexual behavior, and responses to alcohol-related health messaging and brief interventions such as personalized feedback interventions (PFIs). She aims to understand college student drinking patterns through a social normative lens, as high-risk drinking during this age is so often a social activity. Her dissertation examines social norms as a factor of drinking among American Indian college students, and analyzes strength of ethnic identity as a protective factor against drinking. This study is her first in a program of research aiming to develop a web-based PFI for American Indian college students in a way that is feasible, acceptable, and culturally sensitive.

Publications

Lopez, S.V., & Leffingwell, T. R. (2020). The role of unrealistic optimism in college student risky sexual behavior. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 15(2), 201-217.

Lopez, S. V., Leffingwell, T. R., Brett, E. I., & Leavens, E. L. (2019). Temporal estimations and subjective evaluations of alcohol consequences. American Journal of Health Behavior, 43(5), 1006-1015. 

Cole, A. B., Leavens, E. L. S., Brett, E. I., Lopez, S. V., Pipestem, K. P., Tucker, R. P., O’Keefe, V. M., Leffingwell, T. R., & Wingate, L. R. (2019). Alcohol use and the interpersonal theory of suicide in American Indian young adults. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 19(4), 537-552. 

Brett, E. I., Espeleta, H. C., Lopez, S. V., Leavens, E. L. S., & Leffingwell, T. R. (2018). Mindfulness as a mediator of association between alcohol consequences and adverse childhood experiences. Addictive Behaviors, 84, 92-98.

Tammy Martin, PhD (Native Hawaiian)

Assistant Professor, Hawai’i Pacific University 

tlmartin@hpu.edu

Tammy Martin is a Native Hawaiian community researcher who was born and raised on the island of Oʻahu. As an Indigenous health scientist, she has embraced her kuleana (responsibility) bestowed upon her by her kupuna (elder) and ʻohana (family) to serve and uplift Native Hawaiian children and families. She earned a PhD in Social Welfare from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and is currently a full-time Assistant Professor at Hawaiʻi Pacific University. Her doctoral research focused on developing a conceptual framework for the pathways to post-traumatic growth (positive psychological change through overcoming adversity) and healing of formerly incarcerated Native Hawaiian women. She enjoys spending time with family and learning about Hawaiian sacred sites and cultural practices. As a vocalist, hula dancer, and actress, she has travelled to China, Japan, Germany, Tahiti, Aotearoa (New Zealand), and throughout the Hawaiian islands. 

Tammy’s research interests are focused on understanding substance use disorders, trauma, and treatment-seeking behavior among Native Hawaiian children and families. She is committed to interrupting the intergenerational cycle of trauma and abuse associated with substance use disorders within Native Hawaiian communities. Her research aims to closely examine the cultural and community barriers and facilitators to treatment seeking among those engaged in crystal-methamphetamine and opioid use. Through her research endeavors, she intends to develop community-informed and culturally-based substance use interventions that infuse indigenous cultural practices into substance use treatment. Tammy’s long term career goal is to improve the lives of Native Hawaiian children and their families by promoting healing, increasing social-emotional well-being, and strengthening overall family functioning. 

Publications

Martin, T. (2019). Ho'ala hou o nā wahine Maoli: Reawakening of Native Hawaiian women exploring the pathways to posttraumatic growth and healing of formerly incarcerated Native Hawaiian female trauma survivors (Doctoral Dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global Database. (UMI No. 13884126). 

Martin, T. & Godinet, M. (2018). Using the lōkahi wheel: A culturally sensitive approach to engage Native Hawaiians in child welfare services. Journal of Indigenous Social Development, 7(2), 22-40.

Martin, T., Paglinawan, L., & Paglinawan, R. (2014). Pathways to Healing the Native Hawaiian Spirit through Culturally Competent Practice in M.T. Godinet & H.F.O. Vakalahi (Eds.), Pacific People and Transnational Pacific Islander Americans and Social Work: Dancing to the beat of a different drum, (pp. 55-90). Washington, DC: NASW Press.

Duponte, K., Martin, T., Mokuau, N., & Paglinawan, L. (2010). ‘Ike Hawai‘i – A training program for working with Native Hawaiians. Journal of Indigenous Voices in Social Work, 1(1), 1-24. 

Sarah Momilani Marshall, PhD (Native Hawaiian)

Postdoctoral Researcher, Hawai‘i Pacific University

smarshall@hpu.edu

Momilani is of Native Hawaiian descent and lives on Hawai‘i Island. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family, traveling, reading, gardening, and bee keeping. Her family lives in the rural community of Papaikou, homesteading on property which has been in her family for seven generations. Her favorite place in the world is at the family's waterfall, Awaloa. She received her Masters in Social Work from San José State University with a specialization in school social work. She received her PhD in Social Welfare from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa where her research focused on human trafficking and social policy. Her clinical experience has encompassed numerous community-level and population-level public health issues, including substance abuse, domestic violence, sex trafficking, and school-based behavioral disorders.

As a researcher, Momilani is currently interested in the potential of community based charter schools to improve the academic achievement and social-emotional well-being of Native students through place-based, culturally-grounded education. She is focused on understanding the social and behavioral determinants of health, especially family factors contributing to substance use among rural Native Hawaiian youth. Her current research project builds upon a culturally-grounded, school-based prevention intervention, Ho‘ouna Pono, and seeks to adapt it for family- and community based agencies. Her academic training and research experience have solidified her commitment to pursue research that empowers Hawai‘i’s underserved indigenous population and to address pervasive health inequities that continue to affect Hawai‘i’s Native communities.

Publications

Guo, J., Marshall, S., Glasser, J.L., & Spillers, J. (2015). Learning global social conditions: A broader view for social work students. Social Work Education, 35(1), 3- 17.

Helen Russette, MPH (Chippewa-Cree)

Doctoral Student, University of Montana

helen.russette@mso.umt.edu

Helen Russette is a member to the Chippewa-Cree Tribe and was born and raised on Rocky Boy’s Reservation. Currently, she completed her third year as a doctoral student in Public Health and is an adjunct instructor in the Native American Studies department at the University of Montana. She is grateful to serve Indian Country and plans to continue to serve Indian Country for all of her academic and professional career. Her career goal is to become a research investigator and continue to teach on population-level health outcomes.

Her general research interest centers on applying a health equity lens when conducting research to better identify sub-groups that experience worse or compounded health outcomes. This approach enables tailored interventions that directly benefit a community, especially for Native Americans, whom have been historically absent in research studies. Current research efforts involve identifying and measuring culturally-sensitive and community-relevant tailored interventions for opioid and other drug misuse among pregnant women that reside on a federal Indian reservation. With support and guidance from Professor Erin Semmens, the Principal Investigator for their current research project, she is actively working with Early Childhood Services and Community Advisory Team members from one Montana federal Indian reservation to identify and measure culturally-sensitive and community-relevant interventions among Native Americans with children, ages 0 to 3 that were prenatally exposed to opioids, methamphetamine, or other drugs. Her dissertation proposal focuses on family-infant engagement and greenspace exposure as main effects on behavioral dysfunction that is often associated with in utero drug exposure among children. This year, she is also measuring greenspace exposure and poverty as main effects to COVID-19 mortalities across the United States.

Publications

Russette, H.C., Harris, K.J., Schuldberg, D., & Green, L. (2014). Policy Compliance of Smokers on a Tobacco-Free University Campus. Journal of American College Health, 62(2), 110-116.

Jessica Saniguq Ullrich, PhD (Nome Eskimo Community)

Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, University of Alaska Anchorage

jsullrich@alaska.edu

Jessica Saniguq Ullrich is an Inupiaq tribal member of Nome Eskimo Community, a descendent of Wales, Alaska and a proud mother to two children. Her social work background has primarily been within the field of child welfare. Jessica graduated from the University of Washington with a doctorate degree in Social Welfare and accepted an Assistant Professor faculty position at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Jessica loves to walk through the forests, be near the ocean and pick berries in the fall time.

Through community partnership, Jessica’s dissertation focused on building a conceptual framework of Alaska Native child wellbeing using Indigenous storytelling methods. Alaska Native foster care alumni, relatives and foster parent knowledge bearers were interviewed. Jessica hopes to continue to learn about Alaska Native child wellbeing from more key community members such as parents and Elders. The hope is for this shared Indigenous knowledge to improve social outcomes for children and to provide a theoretical foundation for substance use and mental health prevention programs. Children need to know who they are and where they come from, and this is something that is taught through cultural and spiritual ways of Indigenous connectedness.

Publications

Ullrich, J. S. (2019). For the love of our children: an Indigenous connectedness framework. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 15(2), 121-130. 

Ullrich, J. S. (2020). Indigenous Connectedness as a Framework for Relational Healing within Alaska Native Child Welfare (Doctoral dissertation). 

Evan J. White, PhD (Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma)

Associate Investigator, Laureate Institute for Brain Research 

ewhite@laureateinstitute.org

Evan is a member of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and belongs to the White Oak ceremonial ground and Turtle Clan. He grew up in Tulsa, OK and completed his graduate training in Oklahoma State University’s Clinical Psychology program under the mentorship of DeMond Grant, PhD. He is married to his lovely wife Natalie (6+ years) and welcomed his first child Benjamin into the world in June 2020. He is currently an associate investigator at Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He loves spending time outdoors and hanging out with friends and family.

Evan's research program broadly aims to understand risk and protective factors for psychopathology with a particular focus on using psychophysiological techniques (i.e., event-related potentials) to test cognitive theories. His previous work has demonstrated how various executive functions (e.g., cognitive control, error monitoring) are related to symptoms of anxiety. Recently, he has extended his line of work to understand protective factors against mental health problems among American Indian populations. This line of work is aimed at understanding how cultural characteristics (1) play a protective role against poor mental health (e.g., substance abuse, suicide) and (2) influence the developmental trajectory of resilience among adolescents. He plans to leverage advances in neuroscience to accomplish these aims and a long-term goal of developing cultural-neuroscience informed prevention and intervention efforts. One current project he is working on is examining neural correlates of resilience among American Indian populations and on the developmental trajectory of resilience against poor mental health (e.g., substance abuse, suicide) among adolescents. 

Publications

White, E.J., & Grant, D.M. (2017). Electrocortical consequences of image processing: The influence of working memory and worry. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 261, 1-8. 

White, E.J., Kraines, M., Tucker, R.P., Wingate, L.R., Wells. T.T., Grant, D.M. (2017). The effect of rumination, grit, and gratitude on suicidal ideation: A path analysis study. Psychiatry Research, 251, 97-102. 

White, E.J., Grant, DM., Taylor, D.L., Frosio, K.E., Judah, M.R., & Mills, A.C. (2018) Examination of evaluative threat in worry: Insights from the Error-Related Negativity (ERN). Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 282, 40-46.

White, E.J., Grant, D.M., Taylor, D.L., Kraft, J.D., & Frosio, K.E (in press). The influence of state worry on covert selective attention and suppression of threating distractors: An ERP study. Psychology & Neuroscience.

Ashley Cole, PhD (Citizen Potawatomi Nation)

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Oklahoma State University

abcole@okstate.edu

Ashley is an enrolled tribal member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma. She was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Norman, OK. Ashley completed her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Psychology from the University of Oklahoma in 2011. As an undergraduate student, she participated in the American Indians Into Psychology (AIIP) Summer Enrichment Program at Oklahoma State University (OSU). Ashley went on to receive her Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Clinical Psychology from OSU in 2014 and 2018, respectively. Following the completion of her pre-doctoral psychology internship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (APA-Accredited), Ashley returned to OSU for a Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowship, and she accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Psychology at OSU in fall 2019. In her free time, Ashley enjoys traveling, being outdoors, and watching documentaries.

Ashley's research examines American Indian/Alaska Native/Indigenous health disparities and health behaviors (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, and substance use; eating patterns and exercise; and depression and suicidality) from both silence and risk perspectives. She currently has an NIH/NCI funded Diversity Supplement grant (R01CA221819-01A1; PI: Businelle) to conduct interviews with American Indians following their 6-month experience with a smoking cessation intervention delivered via smartphone apps to determine their perceived usability. Results of this study will be used to inform cultural modification of smoking cessation smartphone apps.

Publications

Hawkins, M. A. W., Colaizzi, J. M., Cole, A. B., Keirns, N. G., Smith, C. E., Stout, M. E., Chaney, J., Sawhney, M., & Gahn, D. (In press). Pilot trial of acceptance based behavioral weight loss and neurocognition among American Indians. Behavior Therapy.

Cole, A. B., Littlefield, A. K., Gauthier, J. M., & Bagge, C. L. (2019). Impulsivity facets and perceived likelihood of future suicide attempt among patients who recently attempted suicide. Journal of Affective Disorders, 257(1), 195-199.

Cole, A. B., Leavens, E. L., Brett, E. I., Lopez, S. V., Pipestem, K. R., Tucker, R. P., O’Keefe, V. M., Leffingwell, T. R., & Wingate, L. R. (2019). Alcohol use and the interpersonal theory of suicide in American Indian young adults. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 1-16. 

Jennifer Richards, PhD, MPH (Diné/Lakota/Taos) 

Assistant Scientist, Center for American Indian Health, John Hopkins University

jricha81@jhu.edu

Jennifer Richards is Navajo, Oglala Lakota, and Taos Pueblo. She was born and raised on the Navajo Nation in Tuba City, Arizona. She is Áshįįhi (Salt) clan, born for the Oglala Lakota Oyate. Her maternal grandfather is from Taos Pueblo, New Mexico and her paternal grandfather is from Allen, South Dakota. She is a proud mother to her 10-year-old Michael.

Jennifer's dissertation was titled, “Applying Indigenous Research Methodologies to Inform a Strengths-Based Mother-Daughter Preconception Health Curriculum on the Navajo Nation.” She is also a Co-Investigator on two Navajo Nation JHCAIH projects: Asdzaan Be’eena’ Female Pathways Program; and Replication of Respecting the Circle of Life - Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. Her research interests include preventing American Indian (AI) health disparities through maternal and child health (MCH) interventions, rural health equity, and Indigenous research methodologies. In the future, she aims to develop innovative AI MCH interventions using community-based participatory and Indigenous research approaches.

Publications

Kenney, A., Chambers, R., Rosenstock, S., Neault, N., Richards, J., Reid, R., Nelson, L., Begay, M., Grass, R., Parker, S., & Barlow, A. (2016). The Impact of a Home-Based Diabetes Prevention and Management Program on High-Risk American Indian Youth. Diabetes Educator, 42(5), 585-595.

Jerreed Ivanich, PhD (Metlakatla Indian Community)

Assistant Professor, Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

jerreed.ivanich@cuanschutz.edu

Jerreed is Tsimshian and proud member of the Metlakatla Indian Community located in Southeast Alaska. Jerreed is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado’s Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health. He completed his PhD in sociology at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and a postdoc at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health with the Center for American Indian Health. His family (wife and two beautiful girls) are extremely supportive of his work. When Jerreed is not working he can be found on the road cycling, watching movies or playing games with his family, or working on house projects.

As a member of the Metlakatla Indian Community of Alaska, Jerreed is dedicated to health research for North American Indigenous (Alaska Native, American Indian, First Nations) populations. Jerreed is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health, Colorado School of Public Health. His primary affiliation is with the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health. His work meets at the intersections of prevention science, social network analysis, and adolescent mental health. Through community-based participatory research Jerreed aims to take the knowledge and strengths of communities and put them in dialogue with the broader research field to improve theory, advance methods, and have broad public health impact.

Publications

Ivanich, J. D., & Teasdale, B. (2018). Suicide ideation among adolescent American Indians: An application of General Strain Theory. Deviant Behavior, 39(6), 702-715. 

Wexler, L., Rataj, S., Ivanich, J. D., Plavin, J., Mullany, A., Moto, R., Kirk, T., Goldwater, E., Johnson, R., & Dombrowski, K. (2019). Community mobilization for rural suicide prevention: perceived knowledge, skills, attitudes and behavioral outcomes from promoting community conversations about research to end suicide (PC CARES) in Northwest Alaska. Social Science & Medicine, 232, 398-407.

Katie Schultz, PhD, MSW (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma)

Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of Michigan

katieasc@umich.edu

Katie is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma raised in Cordova, a small fishing community in Alaska. She also lived nearly 20 years in Washington State and these places and communities inform her work. Katie received her MSW and PhD from the University of Washington. Prior to her PhD, she was the Administrative Director of the University’s Indigenous Wellness Research Institute. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship with the Center for Mental Health Services at Washington University in St. Louis before moving to Michigan. 

Katie focuses her research on manifestations of violence and health equity among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. She examines violence and associated health outcomes; community and cultural connectedness; and culturally-derived interventions. Some of her recent work includes investigating relationships between intimate partner violence, drug use and other health outcomes among Native women as well as dating and relationships among AI/AN adolescents. She is currently the Principal Investigator of a study that seeks to identify modifiable risk (violence and substance misuse) and protective (cultural practices and beliefs) factors associated with lowered recidivism among AI/AN women on probation or parole in Alaska (NIDA; 1R21DA050518). She is also a faculty affiliate with the Vivian A. and James L. Curtis Center for Health Equity Research and Training at the University of Michigan School of Social Work where she is co-leading a collaboration with Uniting Three Fires Against Violence, a statewide tribal domestic violence and sexual assault coalition, to develop research to address violence and health equity among tribal communities in Michigan. 

Publications

Schultz, K., Walls, M., & Grana, S. (2019). Intimate partner violence and health: The roles of social support and communal mastery in five American Indian communities. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1-22.

Schultz, K., Teyra, C., Breiler, G., Evans-Campbell, T., & Pearson, C. (2018). “They gave me life”: Motherhood and recovery in a tribal community. Substance Use & Misuse, 53(12), 1965-1973. 

Schultz, K., Walters, K.L., Beltrán, R., Stroud, S., & Johnson-Jennings, M. (2016). “I’m stronger than I thought”: Native women reconnecting to body, health, and place. Health & Place, 40, 21-28. 

Schultz, K., Cattaneo, L. B., Sabina, C., Brunner, L., Jackson, S., & Serrata, J. V. (2016). Key roles of community connectedness in healing from trauma. Psychology of Violence, 6(1), 42-48. 

Jessica Elm, PhD (Oneida Nation and Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohicans)

Postdoctoral Researcher, Center for American Indian Health, Johns Hopkins University

jelm@jhu.edu

Jessica grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where her adult son still lives. She values perseverance, humility, meeting people and communities 'where they are at', and social justice. These values are strongly linked to her identity as an Oneida tribal citizen, a descendant of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohicans, a social worker, and as a Dr. Fauci fan. Jessica enjoys belly laughing, helping others to belly laugh, otter cam watching, interacting with people from diverse backgrounds, connecting people with one another and with resources, and uplifting friends and colleagues. Jessica’s life experiences, values, and identities informed her decision to earn three degrees in social work/social welfare from San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley/Cal, and University of Washington and her career decisions. Coming from a background of providing direct patient health care, with experience in behavioral health, child and family services, program development, and federal Indian policy, she remains committed to serving Native people and organizations through offering practical research implications. Jessica’s vision includes elimination of lateral oppression and honoring the biopsychosocial and spiritual diversity that exists within Indian Country.

Jessica aims to address community defined needs while recognizing historically traumatic events as sources of contemporary stress and health inequities among American Indians. Her scholarship is centered on two primary areas: 1) examining social stressor exposures and corresponding risk for substance misuse, mental health challenges, and poor chronic disease management and 2) identifying individual, family, community, and cultural strengths which can lead to pathways of resilience and recovery. In the future Dr. Elm hopes to work more closely with tribal governments so that tribal leaders can utilize data for decision making regarding health care and promotion, and child welfare.

Publications

Elm, J. H. L. (2020). Adverse Childhood Experiences and Internalizing Symptoms Among American Indian Adults with Type 2 Diabetes. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 

Elm, J.H.L., Walls, M.L., & Aronson, B.D. (2019). Sources of stress among Midwest American Indian adults with type 2 diabetes. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, 26(1), 33-62.

Elm, J., & Handeland, T. (2019). Momentum and Longevity for Tribally Driven Health Equity Science: Evidence from the Gathering for Health Project. Human Biology, 91(3), 153-162.

Elm, J. H. L., Lewis, J. P., Walters, K. L., Self, J. M., Elm, J. H. L., Lewis, J. P., Walters, K. L., & Self, J. M. (2016). “I’m in this world for a reason”: Resilience and recovery among American Indian and Alaska Native two-spirit women. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 20(3–4), 352–371. 

Susan Beaulieu (Anishinaabe, Red Lake Nation)

Tribal Community Facilitator of Tribal N.E.A.R. Science and Community Wisdom Project, University of Minnesota Extension

beau0181@umn.edu

Susan is a mother of 4 and currently resides in central Minnesota with her partner of 14 years.

Brady Garrett, PhD (Cherokee Nation)

Epidemiologist, Cherokee Nation Public Health

brady-garrett@cherokee.org

Brady was born and raised in Oklahoma and is a proud citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. He completed his PhD in counseling psychology from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM in 2013.He is a licensed health service psychologist in the state of Oklahoma and currently lives in his home community of Checotah. He enjoys hiking, watching baseball games, and spending time on the Illinois River.

Brady currently works for Cherokee Nation Public Health as an epidemiologist on a CDC-funded opioid prevention grant. His role on this project includes design of a opioid risk community survey, data collection and analysis, planning of prevention intervention strategies, and surveillance system development. His post-doctoral training (including NCRE) in epidemiology and research design has been vital to his job duties at Cherokee Nation Public Health. His research interests focus on Native American health disparities in relation to substance use among Native adolescents and adults. His is currently pursing an MPH at Johns Hopkins University through the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and hopes to expand his public health research knowledge to tackle substance use disparities that exist in Cherokee Nation. He is also completing a study examining the association between Native cultural identity, historical loss, and discrimination and a popular psychological assessment tool —the MMPI-2-RF.

Publications

Garrett, B.A., Livingston, B.J., Livingston, M.D., & Komro, K.A. (2017). The effects of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination on substance use among youths living in the Cherokee Nation. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, 26(3), 242-249. 

Kyle Hill, PhD, MPH (Ojibwe, Dakota, Lakota; Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe)

Licensed Psychologist, Phoenix Medical Center, Indian Health Service

Associate Faculty, Center for American Indian Health, John Hopkins University

khill29@jhu.edu

Kyle received his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of North Dakota, completing a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota at the Research for Indigenous Community Health Center. Joining the Center for American Indian Health (CAIH) at Johns Hopkins University in December, 2014, Dr. Hill works with the Social/Behavioral health research team to elucidate the protective function of social networks in efforts toward preventing youth suicide. Dr. Hill recently received his MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed the Public Health Training Certificate in American Indian Health. He is currently completing IHS scholarship repayment at the Indian Health Board in Minneapolis, MN, as the APA clinical training director/staff psychologist.

Kyle's research interests include investigating the protective impact of cultural engagement/identity in the prevention of suicide, substance abuse, diabetes and depression, as well as investigating how Indigenous epistemologies and ethno-psychologies can influence associated mental/behavioral health care models in American Indian communities.

Publications

Hill, K., Eck, K. V., Goklish, N., Larzelere-Hinton, F., Cwik, M. (2018). Factor Structure and Validity of the SIQ-JR in a Southwest American Indian Tribe. Psychological Services. Published online November, 26, 2018.

Ashleigh Coser, PhD (Muscogee [Creek], Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nation)

Health Service Psychologist, Cherokee Nation

acoser@okstate.edu

Ashleigh Coser (Muscogee [Creek], Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations) belongs to the Kvsetv Tribal Town and Fox Clan. She is
the daughter of Dr. Pete and JoAnna Coser of Stillwater, OK. She graduated from the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program at
Oklahoma State University in 2018. She is currently completing her postdoctoral residency at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Integrated Behavior Health and specializing in the prevention of child maltreatment.

Ashleigh’s research interests include the examination of the parent-child relationship among American Indian families and the involvement of extended family in raising children. Moreover, she is interested in examining parenting behavior resulting in optimal child development. Recently she has been working on research investigating caregiver and program factors influencing service engagement and treatment completion of home-based services. Following the completion of her postdoc, Ashleigh will be working with Indian Health Service or tribal community in integrated behavioral health.

Publications

Shields, J., Coser, A., Beasley, L., & Silovsky, J. (2020). A qualitative examination of factors impacting family engagement in treatment for youth with problematic sexual behavior. Children and Youth Services Review, 108, 1-8.

Miigis Gonzalez, PhD (Ojibwe)

Research Associate, John Hopkins University Center for American Indian Health

Gonza457@umn.edu

Miigis is from the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation in Northern Wisconsin. She is a mother of two amazing children (3 and 1 years of age) and a dedicated auntie to many more. Her partner, Solomon Trimble and her hope to be blessed with a few more children in the future, as they both value big, close families. Her family has spent their summers at tribal ceremonies, dancing at powwows, and spending time with extended relatives. Miigis personally loves to bead and sew woodland floral designs for friends and family; she is constantly working on projects in order to gift her many helpers in life.

Miigis's work has been focused on language, culture, and wellbeing in Indigenous communities. She is a health researcher and an advocate for language and cultural revitalization. As a health researcher, she is driven to better understand how we can leverage our traditional ways and our traditional mindset for improved wellbeing of our community members and our environment. She attempts to improve the way in which culture and wellbeing are represented, measured, and interpreted in current projects. As a community leader, she wants to build research support in order to expand the reach of cultural resources. She truly believes that if Indigenous people can return to their traditional ways, more of people will live healthy and happy lives, improving the way we take care of ourselves, each other, and the earth.

Publications

Gonzalez, M.B., Aronson, B.D., Kellar, S., Walls, M.L, Greenfield, B.L. (2017). Language as a facilitator of cultural connection. AbOriginal, 1(2):176-194.

Angela L. Walden, PhD (Cherokee Nation)

Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Institute for Juvenile Research

Director of Inclusion Initiatives, University of Illinois at Chicago

walden1@uic.edu

Dr. Angela Walden is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Angela is from Choctaw, Oklahoma and currently lives in Chicago, Illinois. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from California Polytechnic State University and Master of Arts and Doctoral Degrees in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral training at the Institute for Juvenile Research in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In her free time, Dr. Walden enjoys baking (and eating!) blackberry pies, looking for vintage fabric and patterns to make 60s and 70s era clothing, and quoting 90s era Saturday Night Live sketches and movies with fellow aficionado and NCRE cohort member, Dr. Ashleigh Coser. 

Dr. Walden’s research focuses on community-based prevention and intervention with high-risk, marginalized populations (e.g., American Indians/Native Americans living in urban areas; juvenile justice involved youth). Her specific interests include quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research designs to examine the development, implementation, and evaluation of community-based interventions; implementation and transportation of innovative and effective treatments and practices in novel community settings; the infusion of intervention practices into existing non-mental health settings and through the actions of non-mental health workforces (e.g., juvenile corrections staff); and factors that contribute to mental health disparities among members of high-needs, underserved populations. Dr. Walden recently completed a qualitative study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health examining community readiness to address STIs/HIV and intimate partner violence within an urban American Indian community. As the Director of Inclusion Initiatives in the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity, Dr. Walden coordinates the University’s Bridge to Faculty Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, which is designed to recruit underrepresented scholars with the goal of transitioning them to tenure-track faculty after two years. This recruitment initiative aims to attract and retain promising scholars and increase faculty diversity, with particular emphasis in departments with low or no presence of faculty who are underrepresented in their field.

Publications

Walden, A.L., & West, A.E. (2019). American Indian researcher perspectives on qualitative inquiry about and within American Indian communities. American Journal of Community Psychology, 64(1-2), 83-95.

Walden, A.L., & Allen, N.E. (2019). Examining correctional staff members’ engagement in rehabilitation as part of their everyday practices in short-term juvenile detention. American Journal of Community Psychology, 64(3-4), 310-320.

Walden, A.L., Joseph, N., & Verona, E. (2019). Reaching underserved youth: A pilot implementation of a skills-based intervention in short-term juvenile detention. Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 47(2), 90-103.

Tara Ford

Vanessa Hiratsuka

Alicia Mousseau, PhD (Oglala Lakota)

Training & Technical Assistant, National Native Children’s Trauma Center, University of Montana

alicia.mousseau@umontana.edu

Alicia is the daughter of the late John and Vera Mousseau and the granddaughter of the late James and Lena Mousseau from Porcupine, SD. Her hunka parents are Howard Brown and Karen Spoonhunter-Brown of Arapahoe, Wyoming. Her hunka children are Sarayah & Gia Weston and Marcella Brave Heart. Alicia received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Wyoming in 2012 and returned to her home, the Pine Ridge Reservation, SD to live and work. Alicia takes care of her family’s home in Porcupine: raising chickens, maintaining a garden, hosting and celebrating holidays, and taking care of her three dogs – Lavender, Smalls, and Mister Mousseau. She likes to stay involved in her community by being on the Oglala Sioux Tribe Research Review Board (OSTRRB), participating on the Red Cloud Indian School Board of Directors, atending and hosting community events, and commentating high school basketball games on the local radio station, KILI 90.1FM – The Voice of the Lakota Nation.

Alicia’s current professional work with the National Native Children’s Trauma Center (NNCTC) includes developing a supplement to a school-based cognitive behavioral trauma intervention for American Indian youth, creating a collaborative trauma-informed tribal systems framework, and providing training and technical assistance around trauma and healing in Indian Country. She also currently serves as a member of the OSTRRB. Alicia’s previous work included culturally adapting and implementing a family-based substance use prevention program with Lakota families. Alicia has focused on examining self-regulation, affect, and substance use among American Indian youth, including examining mindfulness techniques to reduce risky behaviors. Overall, Alicia is dedicated to promoting prevention and health equity in American Indian communities through community-based research and capacity building.

Publications

Rasmus, S. M., Whitesell, N., Mousseau, A. C., & Allen, J. R. (2019). An intervention science to advance underrepresented perspectives and Indigenous self-determination in health. Prevention Science. Published online May 31, 2019. doi: 10.1007/s11121-019-01025-1

Monica Tsethlikai, PhD (Zuni Nation)

Associate Professor, Arizona State University

Monica.Tsethlikai@asu.edu

​​Monica is an enrolled member of the Zuni Nation. She is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University in the Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics. After completing her undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Notre Dame, she worked for 8 years with minority youth as a residential treatment supervisor and a juvenile probation officer. These experiences led her to seek a doctoral degree in Psychology in order to do more to help children. She obtained a Master’s Degree in Indigenous Nations Studies and a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Kansas.

Monica’s research focuses on the role children’s experiences and activities play in shaping their cognitive development and well-being. Currently, she is conducting research among urban American Indian youth to examine whether active engagement in American Indian cultural and spiritual activities buffers the known negative effects of toxic stress on the development of executive functions. She is also exploring relations among stressful life experiences, stress physiology (using hair cortisol), and trauma symptoms in this population.

Publications

Kulis, S. S., Tsethlikai, M., Harthun, M. L., Hibbeler, P. K., Ayers, S. L., & Deschine Parkhurst, N. (2019). Parenting in 2 worlds: Effects of a culturally grounded parenting intervention for urban American Indians on participant cultural engagement. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. Advance online publication. 

Tsethlikai, M., Murray, D.W., Meyer, A.M., & Sparrow, J. (2018). Reflections on the Relevance of “Self-Regulation” for Native Communities. OPRE Brief #2018-64. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US. Department of Health and Human Services.