Meet the Team

Chris Caldwell, Director of the Sustainable Development Institute at the College of Menominee Nation ccaldwell@menominee.edu

Kyle Whyte (Potawatomi), Associate Professor of Philosophy and Community Sustainability and Timnick Chair in the Humanities, Michigan State University kwhyte@msu.edu

Marie Schaefer, PhD Student, Community Sustainability, Michigan State University schae164@msu.edu

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Current Interns

Charlene Tourtillott was raised on the Menominee Indian reservation located in Wisconsin. A graduate of Menominee Indian High School, Charlene moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts for her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Indigenous Liberal Studies. Charlene is the NECSC sponsored Climate Resiliency Research intern and will also serve as a mentor for the Sustainability Leadership Cohort. She is passionate about learning how the arts could raise awareness on climate change and research, fishing and reading.

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Past interns

Wendy Dorman, NECSC Intern, Summer 2015 -- Wendy Dorman is a zoologist and ornithologist with an MS in biology from Winthrop University. She is currently working on a second MS in Geographic Information Science at Eastern Michigan University. During her internship Wendy learned how to utilize GIS technology to shed light on connections between climate change and population dynamics in native species. Her masters research focuses on the growth and distribution of the Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid in relation to soil type and hydrology. In her free time she enjoys hiking with her dog Atreyu, reading science fiction, and bird watching.

Nathan Martin, SCRiM Intern, Summer 2015 -- Shekoli and Posoh! Nathan Martin is a Menominee and Oneida and considers those lands his home. Today he resides in Phoenix, Arizona, where he lives with his wife. In 2016 he received a MS in Sustainable Solutions from the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. During his internship he learned about what climate change means to our North American Indigenous Peoples and about Menominee history and culture which helped him to better know his family history and himself. He hopes to contribute to the continued resiliency and prosperity of our tribes.

Jason Komanekin -2014 NE CSC Climate Change Research intern. He focused on a literature review of Tribal climate change projects in the Northeast region and assisted with interviews during the 2014 Shifting Seasons Summit.

Cathy Munson, NECSC Climate Change Research Intern, Fall 2015 - Summer 2016 -- Cathy is an enrolled member of the Menominee Nation and is in her first year at CMN majoring in Natural Resources. In July 2015, she moved her family back to her hometown of Gresham, WI from Illinois where she studied horticulture at College of Lake County. Cathy has served 20 years in the Navy and is an active member of the Menominee Veterans. She has been actively experiencing her Menominee ancestral heritage through various activities on campus and on the reservation such as traditional style wild rice processing. She joined her first college club, SEEDS (Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability) and is also in the Master Gardener Volunteer Program. Cathy has seen how climate change affects all living organisms on our beautiful planet Earth.

Eric Nacotee, SCRIM Climate Change Researcher, Summer 2016 - Eric is a student at the College of Menominee Nation and is very close to receiving his associates degree in Natural Resources. Then after that he plans to transfer to the University of Stevens Point to obtain his bachelor degree and return home to share his knowledge and help protect the beautiful forest. Along his educational journey Eric has learned a lot more about his culture an language. Very proud to have been apart of some projects on campus like the Community Turtle Garden.