Heather Sauyaq Jean Gordon will present “Engaging Alaska Natives in Health and Well-Being Research” for the BLaST One Health Seminar on Monday, April 19, from 4-5 p.m.Register here.

Gordon was born and raised in Homer, Alaska. She is Iñupiaq and an enrolled tribal member of the Nome Eskimo Community. She has a B.A. in race and ethnic studies from the University of Redlands in California, a M.S. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Ph.D. in Indigenous studies with an emphasis in Indigenous sustainability from UAF.

For her dissertation, "Self-Determination, Sustainability and Well-Being in the Alaska Native Community of Ninilchik," Gordon conducted ethnographic futures research interviews to explore how individual, community and tribal self-determining actions lead to community sustainability and well-being. She also produced a 20-year roadmap outlining the results of the research for community development.

The One Health seminar speaker series sponsored by the Biomedical Learning and Student Training program (BLaST) and the Center for One Health Research (COHR) will host their April 5 and April 19 seminars on Mondays from 4-5 p.m. All students, staff and faculty are welcome to attend these virtual events. Please register in advance for each event at the links below. Recordings will be made available on the media.uaf.edu website.

Learn more about One Health or BLaST. More information about the wide range of biomedical and One Health programs at UAF can be found here. For more information about the seminars, contact the One Health Team at uaf-onehealth-team@alaska.edu.