Professor Kathleen Pickering Selected as Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow for 2006

CONGRATULATIONS KATHY!

Kathleen Pickering
Professor of Anthropology

From: www.colostate.edu

Anthropology Professor Kathleen Pickering is recognized for environmental research on the effects of global economic systems on indigenous communities.

The prestigious Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship Program annually selects a small number of outstanding academic scientists working to address today's most critical environmental challenges. Those scientists receive intensive communication and leadership training through the program. Kathleen A. Pickering, a Colorado State associate professor in the Department of Anthropology, has been selected as one of 18 Leadership Fellows for 2006.

The goal of the program is to equip scientists with the needed skills to deliver their important environmental research to decision-makers and the non-scientific public. Scientists often have vital information that would help decision-makers confront increasingly complex environmental issues, but lack the training to know exactly how to get their message out.

Pickering’s research focuses on the effects of global economic systems on indigenous communities and local economies, with an emphasis on culture economy. She has spent a great deal of time researching the Lakota culture at Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservations in South Dakota. In 2000, she wrote a book titled Lakota Culture, World Economy that provides an in-depth look at the modern economy of the Lakotas.

Leopold Fellows are chosen for their outstanding scientific qualifications, demonstrated leadership ability and strong interest in communicating their science. Fellows will be attending two, one-week trainings that will include mock media interviews, writing for different audiences and mock Congressional hearings.

"I am very honored to have been chosen for the Leopold Fellowship. Mostly, I am thrilled to become a part of a large network of scientists who are working to spread the word on important environmental research. It gives me the chance to really make a difference," Pickering says.