Don Hankins
Session at the Sierra Nevada Tribal Summit 2026
Panel: Millenia of R&D: Tribal Climate Science and the Climate Fifth Assessment
Sunday, October 1811:30 am–12:30 pmHardrock Live
California is already experiencing the impacts of climate change. Indigenous peoples are on the frontlines, enduring and adapting to severe droughts, floods, historic wildfires, rising seas, and record temperatures. Building resilience to these impacts requires sustained investment in climate change research and science. Through California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment and Tribal Research Program, the State is supporting tribally led climate change research initiatives to address this critical need and further support the work already underway in tribal communities. Join staff of the California’s Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LUCI) and Tribal authors to discuss the Fifth Climate Change Assessment and Tribal Research Program advancements, challenges, and hopes for the future.
Rico MirandaModeratorRumsen Ohlone
Bryce Lewis-SmithPotawatomi Nation
Don HankinsMiwkoʔ
Dr. Donna Miranda-BegayCA Native American GIS
Caressa NguyenIone Band of Miwok Indians
Biography
Don Hankins, Miwkoʔ traditional cultural practitioner, consultant, and professor and field director at California State University – Chico. His expertise includes pyrogeography, sustainable water systems, conservation, planning, and Indigenous stewardship considering landscape scale, biodiversity, and resilience informed by his cultural knowledge. Don’s work includes conservation, stewardship, and policy engagement with a variety of organizations, agencies, and Indigenous entities in North America and Australia. He is also an accomplished artist with invited works exhibited regionally and internationally. Don enjoys making traditional arts including coiled and twined basketry, feather work, net making, and making fishing and hunting implements as well as bone and stone tools. He also works in a variety of contemporary media ranging from linoleum print making to photography. A focus of his contemporary works include the depiction of themes from traditional Miwkoʔ stories and other culturally significant themes, which naturally are a reflection of the environment.