ABOUT US: Research Associate

Research Associate: Karley Rojas (them/elle)

is a Cuban Taíno-descendent queer maorocoti person. Karley began as the Research Assistant for the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab in 2021, and has continued on as a full-time staff Research Associate. Karley is an Indigenous-facing ethnobotanist and multimedia artist. They hold a B.S. in Botany from Cal Poly Humboldt with a minor in Studio Art; they is also an alumnus of the University of Chicago. Their research focuses on the restitution of disseminated ethnobotanical knowledges to their Indigenous communities of origin, supporting the resurgence of Indigenous science and knowledges, Indigenous agroecology and landscape remediation, and community-based research paradigms at the intersection of Indigenous and Western sciences. They have recently received funding for the 'Place-Based Learning Practices' research project which will be the focus of their upcoming graduate work. The drive for their work is the knowledge that it is only in returning to Indigenous land management and life in reciprocity with the more-than-human world that we can imagine and realize Indigenized futures in a seven-generation modality

As an artist their work is deeply rooted in magic realism/surrealism with focus at the interconnectivity between humans and more-than-human relatives and the natural world. They is a multimedia artist, with experience in woodworking, carving, ceramics, painting, tattoos, and textiles. In all of their work they are deeply influenced by Indigenous worldviews and traditions of art, and the survivance and resurgence of Indigenous art through time, contextualized in the modern world of global imperialism and colonialism They view the practice and product of art as cábula- listening and connecting to the interconnectivity of all beings.

Responsibilities at the FSL include administration, execution of programming and events, research, data analysis, and materials creation for data dissemination for research projects. They coordinate events, community outreach and community engagement, and assist in presentations and publications. Under the purview of the research associate is the FSL Greenhouse, FSL Exterior Space, volunteer program, and bi-annual reports They also assist in internship program coordination.