Leadership
David Begay
Navajo, U.S.A.
David Begay, Ph.D. is currently associate research professor at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, in the College of Pharmacy’s Community Environmental Health Program, working with several federal health research projects, including NIH and Environmental Health Disparities, among others. David served as a part-time faculty at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, in the Department of Physics and Astronomy for 20 years. He is also a former professor and academic dean for Dine’ (Navajo Nation) College. He is currently vice president for the Indigenous Education Institute, Friday Habor, Washington. He has also worked with the National Science Foundation and other federal projects, including NASA for over 20 years, Jet Propulsion Lavatory, and Goddard Space Flight Center on space science and heliophysics educational outreach. David is considered a tribal elder and provides cultural consultant services to many organizations and corporations both in the United States and internationally.
Yasmin Catricheo
Mapuche, Chile
Yasmin Catricheo is a Native American woman certified in physics education and employed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) as the senior STEM education specialist. At AUI, Yasmin assists with and co-leads numerous STEM education projects as well as develops new initiatives. Examples of current projects include Innovators Developing Accessible for Astronomy; Network for Earth-Space Research Education and Innovation with Data (IDATA); Cosmovisions of the Pacific; Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries; and the North American Office of Astronomy for Development. Prior to her time at AUI, she earned a master’s degree in education with a concentration in science from Universidad del Bío Bío in Chile, and spent seven years teaching physics and other natural sciences in middle schools, high schools and colleges.
Nancy Maryboy
Cherokee/Navajo, U.S.A.
Nancy C. Maryboy, Ph.D. is the president and founder of the Indigenous Education Institute, a non profit organization with a mission of preserving, protecting and applying indigenous knowledge. She is president of Wohali Productions, Inc., consulting in areas of Indigenous science, Indigenous astronomy, Native American education, curriculum development, film making and Indigenous strategic planning. She is also president of Whiteswan Environmental, an institution that represents Coast Salish tribes. She contracts with NASA for the Heliophysics Education Activation Team (HEAT) program out of Goddard Space Flight Center. She is principal investigator for the National Science Foundation project LIFEways (Learning In and From the Environment Through Multiple Ways of Knowing) Her Ph.D. is in Indigenous education and application of traditional knowledge. She graduated from Smith College and Goddard College, attended Stanford University graduate school and received her Ph.D. from the California Institute of Integral Studies.
Tim Spuck
Non-Indigenous
Tim Spuck is the director of education and public engagement at AUI where he is responsible for the development and management of innovative STEM education programs. He leads multiple NSF-supported projects and efforts at AUI to build domestic and international partnerships in support of education, engagement and workforce development. Prior to his role with AUI, he taught astronomy and earth sciences at the high school and university levels and served as a K–12 science coordinator. He holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from West Virginia University, and a master’s degree in science education from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Tim has been recognized nationally and internationally for his work and served as lead editor and author for Einstein Fellows: Best Practices in STEM Education, which received a Peter Lang Publishing Book of the Year award.
Polly Walker
Cherokee, U.S.A.
Polly O. Walker is of Cherokee ancestry, a member of the Cherokee Southwest Township, and she serves as board chair of the Indigenous Education Institute. An associate professor emeritus of peace and conflict studies and past director of the Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at Juniata College, her research and practice focus on Indigenous/non-Indigenous conflict transformation, Indigenous approaches to peace, and the role of the arts and cultural work in transforming conflict.
Polly’s doctoral degree is in conflict transformation from the University of Queensland, and she has worked in collaborative peacebuilding endeavors in Vanuatu with the Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs; the Solomon Islands with the National Council of Chiefs; and Australia, where she co-facilitated conflict transformation workshops with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organizations, international development and peacebuilding organizations, and people of refugee and migrant backgrounds. She is a past director of the Peace and Conflict Studies Institute of Australia and has held leadership positions in the Peace and Justice Studies Association of the U.S. and Canada as well as in the International Peace Research Association.