Mike Dockry

Dr. Dockry will discuss how formal forestry education and practices have been used to suppress Indigenous land-use practices, knowledges, and relationships. He will use a 1945 mural, "The Epic of Minnesota's Great Forests" to illustrate the issues that arise when Indigenous perspectives and land-use practices are marginalized. He will finish the talk by highlighting the exciting directions of 21st century forestry and forestry education that blend Indigenous and western science to create more diverse, resilient, and healthy forests.

Speaker Biography

Mike Dockry – Associate Professor of Forest Resources, Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota

Mike Dockry is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and works at the University of Minnesota as an Associate Professor for tribal natural resource management in the Department of Forest Resources and as an affiliate faculty member of the American Indian Studies Department. Dockry is a nationally recognized expert in tribal forestry, tribal relations, tribal climate change planning, and building tribal partnerships. 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.

Recommended Reading

Rekola, M., Taber, A.B., Sharik, T.L. et al. Social and knowledge diversity in forest education: Vital for the world’s forests. Ambio 54, 660–669 (2025).