Mike Dockry

For hundreds of years Indigenous people have maintained relationships with forests despite massive social, environmental, and economic change. This talk will put the concepts of novel forests and ecosystem change into conversation with long-term Indigenous perspectives. The talk will provide insights into how Indigenous leadership can develop 21st century forestry that respects all species and peoples while confronting our current social, environmental, and economic challenges.

Speaker Biography

Mike Dockry is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, with traditional homelands around the southern portion of Lake Michigan and contemporary homelands in Central Oklahoma. He works at the University of Minnesota as an Assistant Professor of tribal natural resource management in the Department of Forest Resources and as an Affiliate Faculty member in the American Indian Studies Department. His interdisciplinary research and teaching focus on incorporating Indigenous knowledge and tribal perspectives into forestry and natural resource management. He is co-chair of the Intertribal Timber Council’s research subcommittee and was a technical specialist supporting social science research for the Indian Forest Management Act Team IV, released earlier this year. He earned a B.S. in Forest Science from the University of Wisconsin, an M.S. in Forest Resources from Penn State University, and a Ph.D. in Forestry from the University of Wisconsin.