ABOUT

Charitie Ropati (Yup'ik & Samoan) is a Education & Environmental activist  and Indigenous Scientist & Water Engineer who worked to implement an accurate and inclusive sub-curriculum of Indigenous peoples in Western pedagogy in Alaska. She is a researcher who studies the intersections of plant ecology, permafrost, and cultural resilience in coastal Native communities at Columbia University in the Griffin Lab and is an Indigenous woman in STEM. She also works on the Co-Production of knowledge and is a member of the Earth Network at the Columbia Climate School.

She was awarded Champion for Change by the Center for Native American Youth for her work in education and she has been been featured and nationally recognized for her advocacy in Teen Vogue, The Malala Fund, The Guardian and elsewhere. 
 
She has been recognized as 2023 WWF Conservation Leadership awardee and a 2022 "In the Know" Change maker. She also co-led and created policy in the Anchorage School District that allowed students to wear their cultural regalia when graduating highschool. This policy is still in place.
 
She serves on the Board of Intersectional Environmentalist, an incredible environmental justice organization, and is the North America Regional Facilitator for the Youth Climate Justice Fund. She is also apart of the United Nations Women's Leader Intiative. And most recently was featured on the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 List, under Education.
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