Research Interests & Background
Dr. Karletta Chief (Din茅) is an associate professor & extension specialist in the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona (UA). Her research focuses on unsaturated flow in arid environments and mining and climate change impacts on听Indigenous communities.听She received a B.S. and M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford in 1998 and 2000, her Ph.D. in Hydrology from UA in 2007 and completed her postdoctorate at Desert Research Institute in NV. Dr. Chief was named 2011 American Indian Science and Engineering 鈥淢ost Promising Scientist or Scholar鈥� and 2015 Native American 40 under 40.
Selected Colorado River Publications & Presentations
Publications
Redsteer, M. H., K. Bemis,听K. Chief, M. Gautam, B. R. Middleton, and R. Tsosie. 2013. 鈥淯nique Challenges Facing Southwestern Tribes.鈥� In Assessment of Climate Change in the South- west United States: A Report Prepared for the National Climate Assessment, edited by G. Garfin, A. Jar-dine, R. Merideth, M. Black, and S. LeRoy, 385鈥�404. A report by the Southwest Climate Alliance. Washington, DC: Island Press. ().
Cozzetto K., K. Chief, K. Dittmer, M. Brubaker, R. Gough, K. Souza, F. Ettawageshik, S. Wotkyns, S. Opitz-Stapleton, S. Duren, and P. Chavan. 2013. Climate change impacts on the water resources of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the U.S. Climatic Change.听听DOI# 10.1007/s10584-013-0852-y.听
Chief, K., A. Meadow, and K. Whyte. 2016. Engaging Southwestern Tribes in Sustainable Water Resources Topics and Management. J. of Water. 8, 350; DOI:10.3390/w8080350.听
Chief, K. 2018. Emerging Voices of Tribal Perspectives in Water Resources. Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education 163: 1-5.
Chief, K., R. E. Emanuel, and O. Conroy-Ben. 2019. Indigenous symposium on water research, education, and engagement, EOS, 100, . Published on 24 January 2019.
Bair, L.S., C.B. Yackulic, J.C. Schmidt, D.M. Perry, C. Kirchoff, K. Chief, and B.J. Colombi. 2019. Incorporating social-ecological considerations into basin-wide responses to climate change in the Colorado River Basin. Current opinion in environmental sustainability: 37:14-19 ()
Chief, K. 2020. Water in the Native world. J Contemporary Water Research and Education 169: 1-7.
Ornelas Van Horne, Y., K. Chief, P.H. Charley, M.G. Begay, N. Lothrop, M.L. Bell, R.A. Canales, N.I. Teufel-Shone, and P.I. Beamer. 2021. Impacts to Dine activities with the San Juan River after the Gold King Mine Spill. J. Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.
Bair, L.S., K.Chief, B.J. Colombi, T.S. Melis, and D.M. Perry, C. 2021. Tribes and water management in the Colorado River, US. In (J. Laufer, E.E. Marques, S. Athayde, A.C. Swanson, and A.D.A. Zagallo) Rivers, lands and cultures: learning from Tocantins social-ecological system, pgs 106-126.听听
Publications
Chief. K. and K. Nakai. 2012. Tribal Water Rights, Water Resources Planning, and Water Management under Climate Change. National Conference of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. November 3, 2012. Anchorage, AK.听听
Chief, K. 2014. Exploring organizations open for collaborations. 鈥淒etermining collaboration opportunities鈥�, February 28, 2014, Grand Canyon Trust: Native America Colorado Plateau Intertribal Conversation, Double Tree Hotel, Flagstaff, AZ.听
Joseph, C., K. Chief, and M. Mahmoud. 2014. Modeling the Impacts of increasing water demand on the Colorado River Water allocation of five Arizona tribes. Ten Tribes Partnership Colorado River, August 13, 2014, Radisson Hotel Phoenix Airport, Phoenix, AZ.听听
Chief, K., A. Serrat-Capdevilla, E.S. Chew, and C.N. Joseph, 2014. Collaborative and resilient water management planning under climatic and non-climatic stressors for southwestern tribes. USDA/WRCC Advancing agricultural water security and resilience under non-stationarity and uncertainty: evolving roles of blue, green and grey water. Water Systems, Science, and Society under Global Change, UCOWR/NIWR/CUAHSI 2014 Conference, June 18-20, 2014, Tufts University, Medford, MA .
Chief, K. 2017. Engaging Southwestern Tribes in Sustainable Water Resources Topics and Management. University Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) Annual Conference, June 13, 2017, Fort Collins, CO.听
Chief, K., K. Cozzetto, K. Dittmer, M. Brubaker, R. Gough, K. Souza, F. Ettawageshik, S. Wotkyns, S. Opitz-Stapleton, S. Duren, and P. Chavan. 2014. Climate change impacts on the water resources of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the U.S. School of Geography Spring 2014 Colloquium.听
Baur, L., K. Chief, B. Colombi, and T. Melis. 2018. Panel on Colorado River Management. NSF-CNH-RCN: Amazon Dams Network: Advancing Integrative Research and Adaptive Management of Social-ecological Systems Transformed by Hydroelectric Dams Workshop Palmas 2018: Rivers, Lands and Cultures: Learning from the Tocantins Social-ecological System, Palmas, TO, Brazil, May 16, 2018.听
Chief, K. 2019. Engaging Southwestern Tribes in Sustainable Water Resources Topics and Management. 15th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado, September 9-12, 2019, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ.听
Chief, K. 2020. Unique Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the U.S. Department of Earth Science, University of Cambridge, England, November 5, 2020 (Invited Talk).听 听