"I think my vision for land stewardship is realistic, right? It's not going to go back to the way it was before climate change was a crisis, as it is now. It's not going to go back to before colonialism actually impacted many Indigenous lands. But I think with land stewardship, my vision is that the youth are also empowered to do that intergenerational learning and teaching because we often learn best from our elders, but oftentimes in school settings, we are only learning from the teachers, so we don't get that intergenerational approaches or relationships that are essential as we move forward."

Dr. Jessica Hernandez (Binnizá & Maya Ch’orti’) is a transnational Indigenous scholar, scientist, and community advocate based in the Pacific Northwest. She has an interdisciplinary academic background ranging from marine sciences to environmen ...