Snapshots: Tarissa Spoonhunter

Tarissa Spoonhunter, Liliane and Christian Haub Professor

 

By Micaela Myers
 
This past fall, Tarissa Spoonhunter, an assistant professor in the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources and the director of UW’s High Plains American Indian Research Institute, was awarded the inaugural Liliane and Christian Haub Professorship.

The professorship — established through the generosity of philanthropists Liliane and Christian Haub — is designed to support early-career faculty members in the Haub School by advancing their research, teaching and outreach while assisting in their progress toward tenure and promotion. The endowed position will rotate every three years to recognize a high-performing faculty member, ensuring ongoing support for extraordinary educators and researchers.

“The Haub Professorship was created to uplift exceptional educators whose work strengthens both the university and the communities it serves,” Liliane Haub says. “Dr. Spoonhunter’s leadership and research embody this vision — connecting people, place and purpose in ways that advance sustainability and respect for our shared environment.”

“It was really a great honor to be named the first Liliane and Christian Haub Professor,” says Spoonhunter, an enrolled member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe. 

Spoonhunter’s research focuses on asserting treaty rights on traditional ceded lands, while her teaching emphasizes contemporary issues facing tribal nations in resource management. 

“I felt this endowed professorship would really allow the Haub School to make meaningful connections with the tribes here in Wyoming,” Spoonhunter says. 

She explains that there’s a natural connection between the school and tribes, given that tribes oversee much of the land where oil, gas, water and wildlife are found.

“Environment and natural resources play a big part in tribal nations and how we maintain our worldview and our connection to our lands,” Spoonhunter says. “Through this professorship, I have the support to make collaborations happen. It’s been positive for me as well as my tribal community.”

It’s a natural fit, Spoonhunter says, as the Haub School is all about community. Her work includes meeting with tribal resource managers to understand the challenges they face. 

“Not only are they dealing with the management of natural resources, but a lot of times they’re dealing with how to work with ranchers and state and federal agencies around water, game and fish,” she says. “We want to connect our traditional ecological knowledge to our conservation, so for me, it’s about how I can support them with community education and outreach.”

The professorship enables Spoonhunter to increase her impact at UW and beyond while creating these mutually beneficial relationships with the tribes. Her work includes educating students and giving them hands-on career experience.  

“We are creating that pathway for our students where they can intern for one of our tribal partners, and now some of our graduates are working for those tribal partners,” she says. “That’s the biggest thing for our students: helping them stay connected to their tribal community.”