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Presenter Biographies:


Wendy F. K’ah Skaahluwaa Todd, Ph.D. is Alaska Native of the Haida Nation of the Sdast’as clan, located in Hydaburg, Alaska.

Dr. Todd is a Dr. Henry Highholt Endowed Professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth holding a joint appointment between the Departments of American Indian Studies and Earth & Environmental Sciences. She was the 2019 Professional of the Year by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) for her interdisciplinary research in geoscience, Native Education, and policy, in 2020 she was elected to the AISES Board of Directors.

Dr. Todd is a geoscientist and oceanographer whose research focuses on examining microbial ecology and molecular diversity, biogeochemistry, and biomineralization of groundwater ecosystems and the environmental and health impacts on coast ecosystems on tribal communities promoting conservation efforts of tribal and state partners. In addition, she collaborates with tribal communities working to couple STEM disciplines with Traditional Knowledge in K-12 education by incorporating language and cultural values tied to environmental conservation.


Dr. Mary Owen

Dr. Mary Owen is a member of the Tlingit nation. She graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School and Family Practice Residency Program before returning home to work for her tribal community in Juneau, Alaska.  After eleven years of full-scope family medicine, she returned to the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth in 2014 , as the Director of the Center of American Indian and Minority Health (CAIMH). She continues to provide clinical care at the Center of American Indian Resources in Duluth and is the current President of the Association of American Indian Physicians.


Dr. Rebecca Webster

Dr. Rebecca Webster is an enrolled citizen of the Oneida Nation. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth in the Department of American Indian Studies. She is a founding member of Ohe∙láku (among the cornstalks) a co-op of 10 Oneida families that grow 6 acres of traditional, heirloom corn together. She and her husband also own a 10 acre farmstead on the Oneida Reservation where they primarily grow Haudenosaunee varieties of corn, beans, squash, sunflowers, sunchokes, and tobacco. Their philosophy is that every time an indigenous person plants a seed, that is an act of resistance, an assertion of sovereignty, and a reclamation of identity. With these goals in mind, an Oneida faithkeeper named their 10 acre homestead Ukwakhwa: Tsinu Niyukwayayʌthoslu (Our foods: Where we plant things). Based on their farming practices, they started a YouTube Channel called Ukwakhwa (Our Foods) where they share what they learned about planting, growing, harvesting, seed keeping, food preparation, food storage, as well as making traditional tools and crafts. Most recently, their family formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Ukwakhwa Inc., to help advance their goals of helping share knowledge with the community.


Dr. Matthew Dellinger

The Medical College of Wisconsin has a strong reputation of fostering work that impacts health. It is very fulfilling to contribute to this message. I feel very grateful to be here.

Matthew Dellinger, PhD loves the Great Lakes region. It is his home and he feel a strong connection to the natural heritage. He also believes strongly that part of protecting that natural heritage is to support the natural resource stewardship of the Great Lakes Native American tribes. Since 2004 Dr. Dellinger has dedicated himself to environmental and biomedical science collaborations with these tribes. This has led to many hard-earned and productive working relationships with tribal organizations in the region.

Dr. Dellinger is a co-investigator at the Great Lakes Native American Research Center for Health (GLNARCH). He serves on two committees that address tribal health issues in the Bemidji region: the GLNARCH Community Science Advisory Committee and the Bemidji Area Tribal Environmental Public Health Advisory Committee. He also reports regularly to the Wisconsin Tribal Health Directors as part of his ongoing duties at GLNARCH. Health research in Indian Country faces diverse challenges. Dr. Dellinger's versatile skillset of scientific research, quantitative analysis, cinematography/editing, digital imaging, and risk assessment has allowed him to serve the tribal community in many ways. Specifically, he focuses on improving access to toxicological and risk assessment data in the relevant community via culturally tailored media.

Dr. Matthew Dellinger joined the Institute for Health & Equity as a Research Scientist working with Dr. Earnestine Willis in 2013 and is currently an associate professor in the Division of Epidemiology. Dr. Dellinger has found MCW to be an extremely supportive and welcoming environment.


Nancy Schuldt 

Nancy Schuldt has served as the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s Water Projects Coordinator since 1997. She developed the Band’s water quality standards and long-term monitoring program, including recently approved numeric nutrient criteria for lakes and biological criteria for streams on the reservation, located in northeastern Minnesota. She has directed research into fish contaminants and sediment chemistry to characterize mercury impacts to Fond du Lac Band members, collaborated on research into wild rice ecology and toxicity, as well as watershed hydrologic modeling to inform management and restoration efforts. She participates in numerous local, regional, national and binational working groups to ensure the tribal perspective is represented, and initiated a cooperative wastewater management project with the non-tribal community to service a heavily developed lake on the Reservation. She initiated the tribe’s nonpoint source management program, and leads the Band’s environmental review of mining and energy industry impacts to treaty-protected resources. Nancy has a degree in Biology from the University of Dayton, and a Master’s Degree in Aquatic Ecology from the University of Kansas.


Crystal Greensky

Crystal Greensky is an enrolled member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Northern Lower Michigan, and a descendant of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. She grew up on the FDL reservation and was blessed to be raised by two (2) educators: her father, an Anishinaabe Language and Culture Teacher, and her mother, the Director of Indian Education for Independent School District #2142 in northern Minnesota. 

Traditional Anishinaabe lifeways are the foundation of Crystal’s values, belief system, and the lens through which she views the world. Crystal states, “My life has been shaped by the constant reminder that education is key to success, and a way to honor the past and protect the future for Anishinaabe people, but it can be a challenging to balance. As Indigenous people, it’s important to constantly remind ourselves that being Indigenous and applying those lifeways in the world of academia makes us better students, better scientists, better educators, and better protectors of those lifeways.” When combining her Anishinaabe lifeways with her apparent value of education, Crystal has found a way to successfully live in two-worlds.  

Crystal is a strong proponent of advancing CBPR in tribal communities tohelp eradicate the myriad of AIAN health disparities, while fully embracing the need to protect the unique and collective interests of tribal communities. Crystal believes there is unlimited opportunity to advance health disparities research in tribal communities, but a genuine space must be created that balances academic, bio-medical and behavioral research goals and objectives with respecting and protecting all aspects of tribal sovereignty, including data sovereignty and traditional knowledge sovereignty. Crystal believes this space will organically evolve as more opportunities are created for AIAN to seek biomedical and behavioral research careers within their distinct tribal communities.  

With her healthy advocacy for tribally engaged and strong connections to her tribal community, it should not surprise that Crystal served as FDL IRB Chair for 10+ years and led the creation of a robust tribal research review process that continues to help promote and advance both tribal CBPR and sovereignty. 

In addition to her role as FDLIRB Chair, Crystal also served in the capacity as Quality Assurance Department Coordinator for FDL Human Services (2018 – 2022) where she was responsible for the oversight and maintenance of FDL Human Services AAAHC (Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care) clinical and patient-centered medical home accreditation, continuous quality improvement, provider credentialing, risk/loss management, occupational safety and health, health information management, data analytics, and evaluation and auditing. Prior to serving as the Quality Assurance Coordinator, Crystal co-managed FDL Human Services’ two (2) medical clinics (2011 – 2018). Currently, Crystal is the Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives for Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health – Great Lakes Hub in Duluth, MN.  

Crystal’s background and experience demonstrate a history of success in improving the provision of health and human services to AIAN through proven leadership, continuous quality improvement, and the promotion and administration of research.