Science Moab

Across many chapters, Nicole Horseherder has worked at the confluence of water, science, advocacy, and community. As a founding member and executive director of Tó Nízhóní Ání (Sacred Water Speaks), a Diné-led nonprofit based on Black Mesa on the Navajo Nation, Nicole and her team envision a future on Black Mesa where communities exist in harmony with the Diné elements of Life —land, air, water, and sunlight.  In part one of a two-episode series, Nicole describes her childhood and young adult years—witnessing socio-political, climactic, and hydrologic shifts in her community that changed ways of life on Dził Yíjiin (Black Mesa). Nicole shares how these experiences propelled her into a leading role in the formation of Tó Nízhóní Ání to educate and mobilize Diné communities around Black Mesa hydrology and water rights.