Madelyn Brown, 2018 McNair Scholar, is the recipient of two large scholarships from the New Relationship Trust Foundation and the Gingolx Village Government in British Columbia, Canada. Madelyn is a first-generation student majoring in History with a minor in Native Studies. She has just completed a summer research internship with the EWU McNair Scholars' Program focused on Traditional Ecological Knowledge in native communities of the Inland Northwest and the impact of Eurocentric fire suppression policies on forest maintenance. Using primary and secondary sources, data suggests that these policies did not prevent the occurrence of wildfires but increased the frequency and intensity of this phenomenon in the northwest region. Her Faculty Mentors are SimHayKin S. Jack, Ph.C. and Christina Torres García, Ph.D.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

A senior this year, Madelyn will complete her undergraduate studies this-coming spring and intends to continue exploring Indigenous Knowledge in graduate school. Congratulations, Madelyn!