Dr. Lydia Jennings

Soil Scientist

Lydia (she/her) grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico (Tewa lands) and is Huichol (Wixáritari) and Pascua Yaqui (Yoeme). Lydia earned her Bachelors of Science from California State University, Monterey Bay in Environmental Science, Technology and Policy. Lydia now resides in Tucson, Arizona (O’odham & Yaqui lands) where she completed her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in the Department of Environmental Sciences, with a minor in American Indian Policy. Her research interests are in soil health, environmental remediation, Indigenous science, mining policy, and environmental data ownership by tribal nations. Lydia is a 2014 University of Arizona NIEHS Superfund Program trainee, a 2015 recipient of National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program, a 2019 American Geophysical Union “Voices for Science” Fellow, and a 2020 Native Nations Institute Indigenous Data Sovereignty Doctoral Scholar. Beginning in March 2021, Lydia began her Post Doctoral Fellowship in Community, Environment and Policy at the University of Arizona’s Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.