Nikki Cooley

Nikki Cooley is the co-manager for the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional's Tribes' Climate Change Program and is the first Navajo person to gain a river rafting guide license for the Grand Canyon.

Early life and education Nikki Cooley grew up on the Navajo Nation reservation in Shonto, Arizona, a small community with just over 500 residents, about two hours away from Flagstaff. The home she lived in with her grandparents did not have electricity, and the nearest source of drinking water was away. This, as well as her time spent outside herding sheep, riding horses, and growing corn and squash on the reservation, sparked her love of the environment and value for natural resources . When she was in elementary school, she started writing letters to people in power, including senators and representatives. However, she enrolled at Northern Arizona University (NAU) as the first member of her immediate family to get higher education at a college or university.

Career Cooley works for the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP), an organization that assists all federally-recognized tribes in sustainable resource management. This incorporates traditional indigenous knowledge and could be in the form of webinars, in-person training, or conferences, depending on the individual needs of the tribes.

Public engagement On top of her career as a co-manager for ITEPs Tribal Climate Change Program, Cooley also works as a river rafting guide in the Grand Canyon. She was the first Navajo woman to be certified as a river guide for the Grand Canyon. The Escalade was a gondola complex that would bring an influx of tourists to the confluence, an estimated 5,000-10,000 people a day, disrupting the serene area and causing environmental degradation.