Research

I approach ethnography as social, political, and creative practice, with a commitment to scholar activism and decolonized research. My longstanding body of research and activism has been in feminist political ecology and indigenous environmental justice.

I am currently on research leave in Taiwan as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Center for International Indigenous Affairs in the College of Indigenous Studies at National Dong Hwa University in Hualien, Taiwan.

Dr. Powell stands in front of a classroom lecturing

Dr. Powell lectures on “Climate Change in a time of COVID-19: Living and Transforming the Syndemic in the Navajo Nation” at NTU in Taipei, May 12, 2021.

Ongoing Projects:

Diné Toxicity & Transition Global Indigenous Environmental Justice Collaboration Eastern NC Environmental Justice Co-Lab

Listen to me discuss my research on episodes of the Cultures of Energy and Moccasin Tracks podcasts.
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Dana Powell (middle) with John Sherry, klara kelley, Marley Shebala, and Chris Jocks (left to right), at “ The peoples gathering,” Diné CARE, Dilkon, AZ, June 1, 2018.

Other Projects — In addition to primary work in the Navajo Nation, with related sites in other Native Nations, I have collaborated on site with anthropologists in Beijing, China and in Chiapas, Mexico on political ecology research and action projects.