Alycia de Mesa

Firekeepers Initiative: Building Archival Data Sovereignty through Indigenous Memory Keeping with Labriola, National American Indian Data Center. This project transforms traditional archival work through a community participatory approach rooted in Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies. Nada nukuthdam (fire keepers/protectors), from an O’odham perspective, refers to how initiated community members must tend to a fire when stories and songs are being shared in a Traditional Knowledge setting. By listening to and learning from Indigenous Peoples, this project produces archival resources and frameworks that seek to support Indigenous ownership and stewardship of stories and data, relevant to future work with Tribal communities in Arizona and the southwest region. This project affirms long standing community approaches to memory keeping and uncover past resources that support current cultural reclamation efforts. Once identified, these resources, and the protocols and frameworks that govern them, will inform libraries on how they can implement access and restriction measures that support archival data sovereignty.  We believe this community-based participatory approach will provide Tribal communities the tools to communicate with ASU partners about which Traditional Knowledges, stories, and memories are suitable for public knowledge and which are culturally sensitive and need to be restricted to initiated community members. (Summer 2023-2026)

Immersive, Interdisciplinary, Identity-based Team Science Experience (IIITSE) for Indigenous Food Sovereignty in Bay Area, CA. National Science Foundation funded grant through ASU Earth System Science for the Anthropocene (ESSA) Graduate Scholars network for research and land-based field work focused on Indigenous renewal and food sharing in the San Francisco Bay area. Graduate scholar participating in Summer 2023 to research and support the emerging, Indigenous-led regional food hub centered around food sovereignty and Indigenous practices of health based in Indigenous worldviews and practices. (Summer, 2023)

Chi'chil Counter Mapping Project, Decolonial and Indigenous Data Sovereignty approaches to digital storytelling and counter mapping of Emory Oak acorn (chi'chil in Western Apache); Funded by ASU Humanities Lab Mini-Amplifier grant, Beyond The Lab, Seize the Moment grant (Spring 2022, Spring 2023)

ASU ADVANCE Fellowship, researcher and contributor to faculty wellness and wellbeing resources at ASU; NSF funded grant through College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2022)

Amplifying Latina Voices: Street Designs for Livability, community based participatory research (CBPR) approach to imagining community futures in West Mesa, Arizona. Funded by ASU Changemaker Challenge Grant (2021)

ASU ADVANCE Fellowship, researcher and contributor to mentoring best practices for women and underrepresented faculty; NSF funded grant through College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2021)  

Invited Talks & Presentations:

• Indigenous Digital Countermapping for STEM, Collaborative Leading in Indigenous Communities (CLIC) Conference, ASU Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Tempe, AZ, Presenter, May 2024
• The Critical Nature of Indigenous Pre-Research, ASU ESSA (Earth Systems Science for the Anthropocene, ESSA Symposium 2023, Presenter, Tempe, AZ, Nov 2023
• Effects of Climate Change on Indigenous Cultures and Ways, AISES (American Indian Science & Engineering Society) National Conference, Spokane, Washington, Panelist, Moderated by Dr. Geraldine Richmond, Under Secretary for Science & Innovation at the Department of Energy (DOE), Oct 2023
• Chi’chil Countermapping Project, San Carlos Unified School District, Parent-Educator Event Series, San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, Guest Speaker, Sept-Oct 2023
• Cultivating Intergenerational Resilience in Urban Communities, Keynote Speaker, May 2023, International Association for Relationship Research (IARR) Mini Conference at ASU, Tempe, AZ
• Cultivating a Deeper Relationship with Arizona Landscapes - Stories of Food Resilience and What We Can Learn from Them, Guest Speaker, Apr 2022, Desert Mountain Club, Scottsdale, AZ
• An Introduction to Indigenous Environmental Justice: As Long As Grass Grows by Dina Gilio-Whitaker, Guest Speaker, Mar 2023, CleanAIRE NC Book Club, Virtual
• Chi’chil Countermapping Project, Speaker, Nov 2022, Indigenous Mapping Collective Conference, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
• From Responsible Innovation to Interrelational Technology Development, Conference Paper Presenter, IEEE International Symposium on Technology & Society (ISTAS) 2022, Hong Kong
• A Roundtable on the Politics and Relationality of Knowledge Integration, Session Speaker, Oct 2022, Toronto Conference on Earth Systems Governance, University of Toronto, CA
• Rights of Nature, Moderator, Aug 2022, Project Humanities, Tempe, AZ
• Leadership Development: Storytelling & Presenting, Guest Speaker, Jul 2022, Okland Construction, Tempe, AZ 
• Learning Lab: Sustainability & ESG, Panelist, Jul 2022, HNI Furnishings, Virtual
• Women & Storytelling, Guest Speaker, Jul 2022, Okland Construction, Tempe, AZ  
• Chi’chil Counter Mapping Project, Presenter, Apr 2022, ASU Humanities Lab Earth Week, Tempe, AZ
• MMIWG2S: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two Spirit, Moderator, Apr 2022, Project Humanities, Tempe, AZ
• Harnessing Sustainability & Storytelling, Guest Speaker, Apr 2022, AllSteel
• Black & Indigenous Food Sovereignty and Farming as Resistance, Moderator, Mar 2022, Project Humanities
• Enhancing Inclusive Knowledge & Participatory Design Approaches, Speaker, ASU Public Interest Technologies (PIT) Colloquium
• Sustainable Tech Insight Talk, Moderator, Dec 2021, Hub.Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
• Power of Storytelling, Guest Speaker, Oct 2021, ASU Work +
• Storytelling for 3D Digital Applications, Guest Facilitator and Speaker, Apr 2021, StrongTIES, STEAM & Global Citizenship Mentoring Program for Black & Brown high school girls nationwideCoded Bias Film Discussion, Panel Facilitator and Speaker, Mar 2021, Project HumanitiesIndigenous Storytelling for Social Change in the Technological Age, Jan 2021, EYDI/Indigenous Pedagogy Virtual Academy
• Innovation Policy & AI Careers for People of Color, Nov 2020, ASU
• Environmental Justice: Indigenous Communities, Panel Speaker, Nov 2020, ASU Project Humanities
• Power of Storytelling & Cross Cultural Communication, Jun 2020, Intel Corp.
• The Art & Science of Sustainability Storytelling, Feb 2020, Greenbiz Conference, AZ
• Artificial General Intelligence: Normative Values Risks, Dec 2019, ASU
• Artificial General Intelligence: Case Study for STIR Method Research, Dec 2019, ASU
• Social Impact & Storytelling: A Tale of What Could Be, Apr 2019, Navajo Sustainability Symposium, Flagstaff, AZ
• Sustainability Storytelling: Six Year-Old Brain Model, Mar 2019, GreenBiz Conference, AZ