Diana is a wildlife and landscape ecologist, and spent 30 years of her life studying the biology and landscape ecology of black bears in her family’s homeland of México. Her grandparents are native Tepehuan (Odami) of mountains of Durango, México. Diana’s research focused on how food production influences bears and their movements across large, arid landscapes. She also worked closely with local agricultural producers and relied heavily on local knowledge to develop land management programs that reduced bear-livestock conflicts. Diana received her education in wildlife, range, and landscape ecology at the University of Arizona, the University of Montana, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, and Texas A&M University. Diana is an Adjunct Professor at Texas A&M University, and is a founding member of the Society for Range Management’s Native American Rangeland Advisory Council. She is the Director of “Animo Partnership in Natural Resources,” which partners to developing local, regional, and international programs to strengthen the cultural and ecological connection between indigenous/cultural communities with the land. Diana grew up around Native communities, and because of her own heritage, she has a passion for indigenous rights and sovereignty, especially when it comes to natural resources, and sees it as the key to empowering Native youth.