Dr. Karletta Chief #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NAHM #AmericanIndianandAlaskaNativeHeritageMonth

Today we celebrate Dr. Karletta Chief, a Diné hydrologist, best known for her work to address environmental pollution on the Navajo Nation and increase the participation of Native Americans in STEM.

Here is a video on Dr. Chief’s work from Science Friday:

From a profile on the University News of University of Missouri-Kansas City

Karletta Daané Chief was born in Black Mesa, Arizona to the Diné, or Navajo, people. She grew up in a house with five siblings and no electricity or running water.

No one in Chief’s immediate family had attended college, but her parents valued education and encouraged her to pursue her degree. Having grown up in a population heavily affected by environmental changes, Chief decided to pursue a degree in environmental engineering.

After high school, she completed a bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering in 1998 and a master’s degree in 2000, both from Stanford University.

She didn’t forget her heritage, returning home to participate in cultural obligations, she won Miss Navajo Nation in 2000. Unlike beauty pageants, the Miss Navajo Nation competition is a celebration of the Navajo culture and includes answering quiz-like questions about the Navajo way of life, demonstrating the proper way to butcher a sheep, and speaking the Navajo language, all while wearing traditional Navajo dress.

Chief returned to academia and completed her doctorate in hydrology and water resources from the University of Arizona in 2007. She spent three years in Las Vegas as a post doctorate fellow with the Desert Research Institute.

In 2011, Chief took a faculty position at the University of Arizona, where she continues to work today. She is currently an assistant professor and specialist in the Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science. She focuses on watershed hydrology, unsaturated flow in arid environments, and the effects of both natural and human changes on soil hydrology.

Chief continues to work closes with the Navajo Nation, using her knowledge of the environment to study the risks climate change poses for indigenous people, and acting as an ambassador between the Navajo and science communities.

Learn more!


Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Join Adafruit on Mastodon

Adafruit is on Mastodon, join in! adafruit.com/mastodon

Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 36,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


Maker Business — “Packaging” chips in the US

Wearables — Enclosures help fight body humidity in costumes

Electronics — Transformers: More than meets the eye!

Python for Microcontrollers — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Silicon Labs introduces CircuitPython support, and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

Adafruit IoT Monthly — Guardian Robot, Weather-wise Umbrella Stand, and more!

Microsoft MakeCode — MakeCode Thank You!

EYE on NPI — Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — #NewProds 7/19/23 Feat. Adafruit Matrix Portal S3 CircuitPython Powered Internet Display!

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !



No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.