Sierra Hicks
Pronouns: they/them
Positions(s):
NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Department of Natural Resources & the Environment at Cornell University, Indigenous Data/Knowledge Sovereignty Fellow, Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources
Sierra Hicks (They/Them) is a Euro-American settler and a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell University, as well as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Their dissertation research, conducted in partnership with the Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources (KDNR), investigates the Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDSov) Policy development process, with the intent to inform developing local, state, and federal standards. Sierra is also a KDNR contract worker, coordinating collective learning opportunities around IDSov and supporting the drafting of the KDNR IDSov Policy. They earned their M.S. in Human-Centered Engineering Design in 2022 and their B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2019, both from the Pennsylvania State University. Sierra is an autistic, disabled, and chronically ill scholar passionate about organizing mutual support, advocacy, and education opportunities that benefit their community. Their identity both informs and is informed by their research, which is underway in dedication to equity and pluralism.
Project(s):
Dissertation (tentatively titled): “Indigenous Data Sovereignty Policy emerging from Karuk culture rather than settler-colonial paradigms of property ownership and data management”
Email: sh2337@cornell.edu