As a first-generation Chicana, I am deeply committed to social justice issues within and outside of academic spaces. I leverage my positionality to listen, and to understand, by engaging with students and colleagues in conversations around diversity, inclusion, and the empowerment of underrepresented communities. My research focuses on the intersect of natural resource stewardship, conservation, and Indigenous foodways, with special attention to the diversity of agricultural crops that are nurtured by cultural practices in marginalized communities.