Biography
Helen, a citizen of the Chippewa-Cree Tribe, was born and raised on Rocky Boy’s reservation in Montana. She joined the Center for Indigenous Health in October of 2021 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and was promoted to Assistant Scientist in June of 2023. Her work centers on land and water-based traditional and spiritual activity participation as a deterrent against early initiation of substance use among Indigenous children.
Prior to joining the Center, Helen worked on her dissertation research. She applied Community-Based Participatory Research methods to collaborate with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to co-identify barriers and facilitators to cultural, community, outdoor and home-based protective activities among families to children with and without prenatal drug exposure. Her final dissertation study measured the exposure to the natural environment and risk of COVID-19 mortality across the conterminous United States.
Helen is grateful to continue serving tribal communities in a research capacity. She obtained her PhD in Public Health in the School of Public and Community Health Sciences at the University of Montana in 2021. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, listening to a good podcast, traveling, reading, and being outdoors.
Helen is based in Missoula, MT.