BIA Regional Tribal Resilience Liaisons are stationed at DOI Science Centers throughout Indian Country and help respond to diverse challenges Tribal communities are facing by serving as extension agents, facilitating research, and coordinating forums and exchange. 

Tribal Resilience Liaison Map and Info-graphic 

Sara Smith - Midwest region
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Sara Smith is the Midwest Tribal Resilience Liaison hired by the College of Menominee Nation as part of the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI). Sara is a direct descendant of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Biology (Ecology and Conservation) and First Nation Studies from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay as well as a Master’s of Science degree in Ecology from the State University of New York - College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Her position is connected to the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (MW CASC) and is stationed in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

As the liaison for this region, Sara works with tribes to build capacity and provides support by helping identify tribal needs with adaptation efforts. She also serves as a point of contact between Tribes in the Midwest, federal agencies, and climate science researchers to match those needs with tools and resources that can be used for tribal strategic planning, management plans, and/or resilience projects. ​

Contact: ssmith@menominee.edu

Casey thornbrugh - Northeast/southeast                                                  region

Casey Thornbrugh is a Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Citizen originally from Massachusetts. He spent much of his youth and college years in the U.S. Southwest where he studied climate and worked with communities of Tribal Nations on climate monitoring and climate education.

After working at Tohono O’odham Community College, a tribal college on the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona, Casey moved back to the East Coast to be closer to family and to work with his Tribe. He now works for the United South and Eastern Tribes Inc. (USET) to serve as the Tribal Climate Science Liaison between eastern tribes and the Northeast and
Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Centers (NE & SE CASC). His role is to work with the NE & SE CASCs to provide current climate science information, identify climate research needs and priorities, and to provide climate adaptation planning support for Tribal Nations in USET’s service area.

Ultimately Casey will be working with Tribal Nations to connect the climate science with traditional knowledge for supporting climate adaptation planning within these Nations.​

​Contact: cthornbrugh@usetinc.org