KEY NOTE SPEAKER

JOHN B. HERRINGTON

ASTRONAUT

&

U.S. NAVAL AVIATOR

From Wetumka, Oklahoma, to the final frontier, John Herrington has been everywhere. John grew up to be a U.S. Naval aviator and an astronaut for NASA. He became the first enrolled citizen of a First American tribe to fly in space.

From small beginnings he went on to conquer formations on Earth and then braved the solitude of space. Very proud of his background, John carried the Chickasaw Nation flag on his 13-day trip in space. Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby presented the flag to Herrington for his flight.

Born in 1958, Herrington’s coming-of-age story happened during the golden years of space exploration. This formed his desire to venture into space and be a part of something special.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 1983. He then received his commission into the U.S. Navy in 1984.

After excelling in the Navy, Herrington reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. There he completed two years of training and evaluation before being qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. His voyage began Nov. 23, 2002, to deliver a new crew to the International Space Station.

During his career, he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation, Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal and Sea Service Deployment Ribbons. Herrington retired from the Navy and NASA in July 2005.

After retiring, John began to work hard elsewhere. In 2008, he took part in a cross-country bicycle ride from Cape Flattery, Washington, to Cape Canaveral, Florida. Now he spends much of his free time serving as a motivational speaker to young people, encouraging them to continue their pursuit of excellence in education.

He is a proud member of the Chickasaw Nation, and is glad to share his story and his tribal background with anyone and everyone who will listen.

KEY NOTE SPEAKER

DR LORI LAMBERT

Ph.D., DS, RN

Dr. Lambert, is a medical ecologist and researcher. 

She is an enrolled member of the Abenaki Nation Deer Clan and a descendent of Mi’kmaq First Nations. She has over 30 years of teaching at the university level, extensive curriculum design experience, which includes 22 years of distance education experience in online learning, satellite courses, and cable television.

Dr Lambert is the recipient of numerous awards including The Alfred P. Sloan Excellence in (Asynchronous Learning Network) ALN Teaching Award; The American Indian College Fund, Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship for Faculty Research; The Canadian Embassy Award for Research for College Faculty; The Fulbright Scholars Award to research in China; the Gladys Pearlstein Humanitarian Award; China; The American Indian Higher Education Consortium Faculty of the Year 2011 at Salish Kootenai College.

Dr. Lambert has been the invited Keynote speaker at conferences in Australia, Finland, Norway, France, and Canada. She holds a nursing diploma from Cambridge Hospital, a Harvard University teaching hospital; a Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Physical Education/Therapeutic Recreation from Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; a Master of Environmental Science Education from Acadia University, Philadelphia; a Ph.D. Medical Ecology/ Anthropology: Arctic Studies from the Union Institute and University, and a Post Doctorate Certificate from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada in Distributed learning and Technology.

She has authored many articles and six book, the latest

“Research for Indigenous Survival” is being republished in the UK for students

with visual impairment.

KEY NOTE SPEAKER

DR ED GALINDO

Ph.D.

Dr. Galindo (Yaqui, American Indian) is a faculty member at the University of Idaho, Associate Director for Education and Diversity for the NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium, Affiliate faculty member at Idaho State University (Biology Department) and Affiliate faculty member at Utah State University (Physics Department).

Dr. Galindo has extensive education and research experience working with Native American students.

While serving as chairman of the science department on the Shoshone-Bannock Indian Reservation, he was twice elected as the National Indian Teacher of the Year, awarded by the National Indian School Board Association.

Dr. Galindo is full of curiosity for life and learning. He finds humor in most things on this planet, including himself.

He has a B.S. is in Animal Science, an M.S. in Health Science from Idaho State University, and a Ph.D. in Physics Space Research from Utah State University.

SPEAKER

DR SAMARRA TOBY

BSc. M.B.B.S. F.R.A.C.G.P.

Dr Toby is the daughter of Robert Toby and a Gangulu, Northern Cheyenne and Australian South Sea Islander medical physician and scientist.

She has a special interest in longevity and life extension therapies, nutritional and environmental medicine and specialises in remote and extreme environmental health and medical systems. Dr Toby specialises in longevity, plant medicines and life extension treatments with her patients' to address health challenges faced by First Nations communities. 

Dr Toby is the first Indigenous doctor to graduate from Griffith University School of Medicine and is a graduate of the University of Queensland Bachelor of Science majoring in biomedical science.

She has been an advocate and Queensland Museum Science Hero with a special interest in traditional ecological knowledge systems from a First Nations scientific perspective, in addition to now exploring and undertaking space medicine research with translational research applications for Earth and off planet missions.

Dr Toby mentors and trains First Nations youth in STEM, and Medical education pathways, and is helping to create the next generation of First Nation Chief Scientists in Australia with international connections. 

SPEAKER

CHEYNE LITTLESUN

Ms. Cheyne Littlesun is a Northern Cheyenne woman and scientist, graduate of the Salish Kootenai College in Montana, and an MCB graduate student in the Kaeberlein lab, her research focuses on deciphering combinatorial drug interactions in aging biology. Currently she is looking at how a library of chemicals interact with metformin; a possible modulator of longevity now being investigated in humans and the 6th most prescribed drug in the United States. This work has piqued her curiosity in learning more about the molecular pathways that underpin the aging process in order to develop innovative treatments for age-related disorders.

SPEAKER

DR ANNE LINDBLOM

Ph.D.

Dr. Anne Lindblom is a professor in Special Education at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences and the Sámi University of Applied Sciences in Norway. She also holds an honorary appointment as an adjunct research fellow at the College of Indigenous Futures, Education and Arts at the Charles Darwin University, Australia.

She is a Swedish, non-Indigenous researcher who grew up in Canada, and has Indigenous family there who are Carrier from the Lake Babine Band.

Dr Lindblom acknowledges and honors her Indigenous family for sharing their knowledges and making her research in Indigenous contexts possible. Lindblom defended her thesis “Stepping out of the Shadows of Colonialism to the beat of the drum- The meaning of music for five First Nations children with autism in British Columbia, Canada, in 2017.

Recently, she was an advisor to the first Special Interest Group meeting on  Indigenous Autism in Global Contexts at the INSAR (International Society for Autism Research)conference in Melbourne, Australia. Together with her Sámi colleague associate professor Ylva Jannok Nutti, she has developed theoretical framework of Indigenous and Indigenist models of inclusive and equitable education, and they have conducted a research project with Sámi special education teachers in Norway.

Dr Lindblom’s research interests beyond Indigenous contexts include inclusion in higher education, perceptions of autism, and ethical considerations in special educational consultation.

SPEAKER

DR YLVA JANNOK NUTTI

Ph.D.

Dr. Ylva Jannok Nutti, PhD, is an associate professor at Sámi Teacher Education department at Sámi University of Applied Sciences / Sámi allaskuvla, Norway. She is head of the Sámi Primary School Teacher Education program for school years 1 to 7.

Her current research is an evaluation study of the implementation of the Sámi curriculum (LK20S) in Sámi primary and lower secondary schools in Norway.

She is also just finishing up a research project conducted in collaboration with a Sámi Early Childhood Centre. 

Her most recent publications this year on basis of that research project is about decolonization of Sámi religious traditions into teaching and children’s and educators’ engagement in storytelling traditions. Her research focuses on Sámi traditional knowledge and storytelling tradition, Land based Education, Sámi pedagogy and decolonization of Indigenous education.

Native philosophy has always been a broad-based ecological philosophy. It is not based on rational thought alone but incorporates to the fullest degree all aspects of interactions of “man in and of nature,” that is, the knowledge and truth gained from interaction of body, mind, soul, and spirit with all aspects of Nature. In process, reflection, and practice, Native science embodies the natural system characteristics of diversity, optimization, cooperation, self-regulation, change, creativity, connectedness, and niche.

 - GREGORY CAJETE, Ph.D.

We would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land, and seas on which we provide services are located.

I humbly pay my respects to the Elders both past and present, to our children, those unborn and those here with us today, to our youth and emerging Elders. We would like to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the State, the Nation and across the waters, and to my Brothers and Sisters here with us today. We come to create collaborative, accountable, continuous, and respectful relationships with our Indigenous nations and communities. We gratefully acknowledge the beautiful First Nations people and communities on whose ancestral homelands we gather, as well as the diverse and vibrant Indigenous communities who make their home here today.