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Inaugural summit at UW explores how tribes are adapting to a changing energy landscape

A logo with the words “Tribal Energy Summit” against a teal and yellow background with three blue diamond shapes in the background.
School of Energy Resources
/
University of Wyoming

The first-ever Tribal Energy Summit is taking place at the University of Wyoming (UW) on Thurs. Oct. 17. The conference will bring together representatives from energy-producing tribal nations and tribal energy companies to discuss the future of energy in rural western communities.

The event’s agenda includes panels on ethics, tribal leadership and community engagement.

Christine Reed is the director of outreach for UW’s School of Energy Resources, which is hosting the summit. She said a big focus of the programming is emerging technologies.

“We avoided the legacy industries like oil and gas because we want to know how those sorts of learnings are being leveraged to welcome in these new technologies. We're looking at things like carbon management, critical minerals and then looking for ways that groups can better partner with each other,” she said.

Reed said the spark for the conference came from Navajo Sen. Affie Ellis (R-Cheyenne), who approached the school with the idea of creating more dialogue between tribes and stakeholders on the topic.

“We need to do a better job of tribal engagement in terms of energy development and providing an opportunity for active listening from our tribal members, really learning from those groups of what sort of challenges and opportunities are in the energy space,” said Reed.

Selena Gerace is a senior research professional at the School of Energy Resources who focuses on social science and community engagement. She said learning about common interests is another big focus of the event.

“Many tribes in the West have large reservations with many natural and energy resources and have really been producing a lot of secure and reliable energy for a long time. And that is so much in alignment with Wyoming more broadly,” she said.

Gerace said a big focus is to hear how different tribes want to develop consultation and engagement in the field going forward.

“What are the best practices? What's working, what's not working? How can we do this better and hear different firsthand perspectives of tribes working in the energy space?” she said.

Gerace shared that the School of Energy Resources is also focusing on centering tribal perspectives through its new Energy Engagement, Leadership and Careers Program, which launched this summer.

The summit is free, with options to attend in-person as well as online. It’ll open with remarks from Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources Assistant Professor Tarissa Spoonhunter (Northern Arapaho), Sen. Affie Ellis (Navajo), School of Energy Resources Executive Director Holly Krutka and Gov. Mark Gordon.

Hannah Habermann is the rural and tribal reporter for Wyoming Public Radio. She has a degree in Environmental Studies and Non-Fiction Writing from Middlebury College and was the co-creator of the podcast Yonder Lies: Unpacking the Myths of Jackson Hole. Hannah also received the Pattie Layser Greater Yellowstone Creative Writing & Journalism Fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council in 2021 and has taught backpacking and climbing courses throughout the West.

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