Land Acknowledgement

Geology is intrinsically connected to the Earth and the various peoples that inhabit it. As such, I believe it is vital to recognize the peoples who are the traditional caretakers of the places where I have been fortunate to visit and conduct research.

The University at Buffalo is on territory traditionally belonging to the Seneca Nation, a member of the Haudenosaunee/Six Nations Confederacy. These lands are covered by the Dish with One Spoon Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which seeks  to share and protect the Great Lakes area and its resources. Additionally, the area where the University at Buffalo sits is covered by 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, signed by the United States Government and the Six Nations Confederacy, which further affirmed Haudenosaunee land rights and sovereignty in the State of New York. Today, my research in western New York also takes places on lands originally belonging to the Seneca.

My field work in southeastern Alaska was conducted on the ancestral homeland of the Tlingit people.

While much of my work in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) has taken place far from population centers, I recognize and acknowledge the role that the Kalaallit, Inughuit, and Tunumiit serve as the traditional caretakers and residents of the island.