Photo: Lani Tsinnajinnie

Lani Tsinnajinnie

  • Assistant Professor

    • /

    Education

    • PhD, Earth + Environmental Science, New Mexico Tech
    • Master of Water Resources, University of New Mexico
    • B.A. Native American Studies, University of New Mexico

    Research

    • Mountain + Watershed Hydrology
    • Groundwater + Surface Water Interaction
    • Climate Change Impacts on Watershed

    I am Diné and Filipino from the community of Na’Neelzhiin (Torreon), NM, located in the eastern-most area of the Navajo Nation and am currently and Assistant Professor in the Department of Community and Regional Planning at UNM where I focus on water resources and watershed planning. My expertise is in mountain and watershed hydrology, climate adaptation planning, and community-based watershed planning.

    I received a B.S. in Environmental Science, a B.A. in Native American Studies, and a Master of Water Resources degree from the University of New Mexico. I also received a PhD in Earth and Environmental Science with a dissertation in Hydrology from New Mexico Tech. My dissertation focused on groundwater and surface water interactions in semiarid mountainous watersheds and impacts of climate change on mountainous watersheds. Throughout my graduate studies, I collaborated with the Navajo Nation Water Management Branch and focused my research in watersheds of the Chuska Mountains. My doctoral research was primarily funded through a U.S. EPA STAR Fellowship.

    My current work focuses on empowering Indigenous communities in planning for climate change and other impacts on their watersheds and water resources. My current and recent projects and collaborations are funded by the National Science Foundation, Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center, UNM Advance, New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, UNM Water Resources Grand Challenge, and the UNM Center for Regional Studies.

    I’ve had previous experience collaborating with other tribes and communities in New Mexico in the various environmental work I’ve done and hopes to further collaborate with more Indigenous communities and New Mexican communities.


    CRP 427/527 Watershed Management

    CRP 531 Foundations of Natural Resources


    Webster, A.J., Lin, Y.C., Scruggs, C.E., Bixby, R.J., Cadol, D., Crossey, L.J., Huang, K., Johnson, A., de Lancer Julnes, P., Kremer, C., Morgan, M., Mulchandani, A., Rotche, L., Stone, A.B., Tsinnajinnie, L.M., Stone, M.C. (Accepted November 2024), Convergence research on water resource management through a collaborative, adaptive, and multiscale systems thinking framework. Ecology and Society.

    Leonard, K.; David-Chavez, D.; Smiles, D.; Jennings, L.; ‘Anolani Alegado, R.; Tsinnajinnie, L.; Manitowabi, J.; Arsenault, R.; Begay, R.L.; Kagawa-Viviani, A.; Davis, D.D.; van Uitregt, V.; Pichette, H.; Liboiron, M.; Moggridge, B.; Russo Carroll, S.; Tsosies, R.L. and Gomez, A. 2023. Water back: A review centering rematriation and Indigenous Water research sovereignty. Water Alternatives 16(2): 374-428 Leonard, K.; David-Chavez, D.; Smiles, D.; Jennings, L.; ‘Anolani Alegado, R.; Tsinnajinnie, L.; Manitowabi, J.; Arsenault, R.; Begay, R.L.; Kagawa-Viviani, A.; Davis, D.D.; van Uitregt, V.; Pichette, H.; Liboiron, M.; Moggridge, B.; Russo Carroll, S.; Tsosies, R.L. and Gomez, A. 2023. Water back: A review centering rematriation and Indigenous Water research sovereignty. Water Alternatives 16(2): 374-428

    Tsinnajinnie, L.M., M.D. Frisbee, and J.L. Wilson (2021), Groundwater from perennial springs provide refuge from wildfire impacts in mountainous semiarid watershed, Journal of Hydrology, 596, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125701

    Tsinnajinnie, L.M., D.S. Gutzler, and J. John, (2018), Navajo Nation snowpack variability from 1985-2014 and implications for water resources management, Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education, Emerging Voices of Tribal Perspectives in Water Resources, 163.

    Frisbee, M.D., E.H. Tysor, N.S. Stewart-Maddox, L.M. Tsinnajinnie, J.L. Wilson, D.E. Granger, and B.D. Newman (2016), Is there a geomorphic response of interbasin groundwater flow in watersheds? Interactions between interbasin groundwater flow, springs, streams, and geomorphology, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, doi:10.1002/2015GL067082


    Transformation Network, Co-Principal Investigator
    https://transformimw.unm.edu/

    Center for Water and the Environment, Senior Personnel
    https://cwe.unm.edu/

    Cultivating Indigenous Research Communities for Leadership in Education and STEM (CIRCLES) Alliance, NM Co-Principal Investigator
    https://circlesalliance.org/

    South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center Consortium, UNM Co-Principal Investigator

    “Shifting from Extractive to Self-determined: Enhancing Indigenous Research and Data Governance in Southwest Climate Adaptation Initiatives”. Co-Principal Investigator and collaborator for project led by the Indigenous Land and Data Stewards Lab at Colorado State University and funded by the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center
    https://www.indigenouslandstewards.org/what-we-do

    Navajo Nation Water Rights Commission, Commissioner representing Eastern Navajo Agency
    https://nnwrc.navajo-nsn.gov/


    2020 UNM Advance Women In STEM

    2013 U.S. EPA STAR Fellowship