Talia Davis

Talia (She/Her) is from the Tlingit village of Kake, Alaska. Kake is located on Kupreanof Island in Southeast Alaska and around 500 people live there. After seeing first-hand how logging affected every aspect of the environment that raised her, Talia was inspired to learn more about Western Environmental Sciences to supplement the traditional knowledge that she already carries. 

Talia is a first generation college graduate and attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Fairbanks, Alaska. She graduated in May of 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries and Ocean Sciences with a concentration in Ocean Sciences and a minor in Biological Sciences. During her time at UAF, Talia became deeply involved with a partnership between UAF and entities in Kake called the Kake Climate Partnership. While working on this project, Talia researched the effects of climate change and pollutants on the water and biological species around Kake and used this data to complete her senior thesis. While completing her undergrad, Talia returned home in the summers to Southeast Alaska to conduct field work in forestry, fisheries, and oceanography. She interned for her native corporation, Sealaska, for the summers of 2017 and 2018 and realized that it was possible to create a career in which she worked in the forests and on the waters that she loves. In the summer of 2019 Talia began working for her tribe, the Organized Village of Kake, on a new project; the Keex' Kwaan Community Forest Partnership (KKCFP). At KKCFP, Talia was the anadromous streams crew lead in 2019 and also returned as a crew lead in 2020. Talia believes that stewardship of the air, land, and sea is inherently connected to her people, and that all indigenous peoples have a right to manage and protect the resources that have supported their people since time immemorial.

In her free time Talia enjoys snuggling, walking, and running with her retired sled dog Finn, beading, skin/fur sewing, harvesting and putting up traditional foods (and eating them), spending time with her family, and perfecting her smoked salmon sushi roll.