SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Major: Environmental Studies
Concentration: Environment, Communication, and Society
Hometown: Onondaga Nation
Class of ’26
Makiyah Lazore remembers the two summers she spent at the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment (CNPE)’s Native Earth Environmental Youth Program at ESF. The hands-on ecological lessons were taught by respected Indigenous elders and set against the picturesque backdrop of the Newcomb Campus in the Adirondacks.
Lazore learned about Traditional Ecological Knowledge and was encouraged to find her own relationship with the environment. She learned about Indigenous land care practices of the Adirondacks and practiced subsistence activities. She immersed herself in nature through traditional skills-based workshops such as fire-making, medicinal plant identification and medicine making, cattail cordage, traditional basket making, and more. With each passing moment, she found the link between her culture and history deepening.
The interactions between Indigenous and western science inspired Lazore to think critically about how the climate crisis impacts her community. The annual cycle of ceremonies stood out in her mind. Celebrations are tied to cycles of the seasons, but as a changing climate blends the seasons, it makes marking important events harder. Some crops that once flourished on Onondaga Nation are difficult to grow with mid-May frosts and December heat snaps impacting the lives of the plants.