BIOGRAPHY
A proud rez girl from Lame Deer, Montana, Desi is a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation and Chicana. She was born and raised on Cheyenne homelands where real and imagined reservation borders cross everyone. Desi is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and American Indian Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has partnered with Indigenous communities in the U.S. and internationally as a researcher and data advocate for more than ten years.
Desi’s research examines the intersection of race, indigeneity, data, and inequality. With a focus on Indigenous futures, her current research explores the racialization of Indigenous identity and group boundary making, Indigenous population statistics, and data for health and economic justice on Indian Reservations.
Desi directs the Data Warriors Lab, an Indigenous social science laboratory. She is the Co-Founder of the U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty Network, which helps ensure that data for and about Indigenous nations and peoples in the U.S. (American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians) are utilized to advance Indigenous aspirations for collective and individual wellbeing. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Database.
She is a proud alumna of the University of Arizona (Ph.D. Sociology), University of Waikato (Ph.D. Demography), Stanford University (B.A. and M.A.).
Beyond research, teaching, and advocacy, Desi is in the throes of raising a strong willed 4 year old, enjoys a slow game of pick-up basketball, is on a mission to find the best pie crust recipe, and strives to be a good relative.