Denver, February 20, 2000. Patterson Yazzie, Navajo, joined the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management (IIIRM) staff on February 1, 2000. He worked at the Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center as a project coordinator for four-and-half years coordinating the Indigenous Earth Science curriculum, a curriculum that points out Native American perspectives, stories, and oral accounts on significant geologic events. Yazzie also coordinated the Haskell Environmental Seminar Series, a series of roundtable discussions and presentations on environmental issues in Indian country. He also wrote for and edited the center's quarterly newsletter, Earth Medicine. Yazzie is an alumn of Haskell Indian Nations University and is in the process of completing his degree in Environmental Science at the University of Kansas.
Yazzie's experiences in coordinating workshops with the Institute of Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) at Northern Arizona University will be utilized at IIIRM. He brings with him a wide range of experience that will assist in meeting IIIRM's missions and goals. IIIRM is a non-profit institute that assists tribal and indigenous organizations in building capacity so that they can protect and restore the environment and natural resources.
The institute accomplishes its goals by providing workshops, internship, and providing legal, ethical, cultural and policy aspects of a wide range of natural resource management, environmental protection and environmental restoration issues. The Institute works directly with Indian tribes and other indigenous peoples to provide technical support to manage resource development and conservation projects; establish legal, regulatory, scientific and technical systems for environmental protection and environmental restoration programs; and develop and implement education and training programs to build or enhance technical and management skills.
For more information, contact Mervyn Tano at 303-733-0481.