UM Directory

I am the Director of the Elouise Cobell Land and Culture Institute and an assistant professor in the departments of Native American Studies and Environmental Studies at the University of Montana. As a quantitative researcher with academic interests in both the STEM and the social sciences, my scientific approach is diverse but fundamentally founded on data science and geographical thinking, which I apply to characterize environmental dynamics and their impacts on coupled human-nature systems, inform climate resilience, and bring indigenous perspectives on conservation into higher education.

Education

Ph.D., Quaternary Sciences

M.S., Management Information Systems

M.S., Geographic Information Systems

M.S., Applied Statistics

M.S., Quaternary Sciences and Prehistory

B.A., History and Geography

Current Position

Assistant Professor

Director, Elouise Cobell Land and Culture Institute

Courses Taught

NASX 303 (Ecological Perspectives in Native American Traditions). Every Fall and every other Spring.

ENSC 474 / ENSC 574 (Environmental Analytics). Every Fall.

Projects

• Visitor Survey at the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (2024 - 2027; US Forest Service)
• Centering Indigenous Epistemologies: Connecting generations and sustaining Indigenous scholarship (2023 - 2028; Mellon Foundation - Higher Learning)
• Understanding Tribal co-stewardship benefits and barriers (Co-PI; 2022 - 2026; Forest Service)
• Landscape Fire Planning (2023 - 2026; US Forest Service)
• Precision Forestry and Rangeland Technologies (Senior Partner; 2023 - 2025; NSF - Regional Innovation Engines)
• Tribal Interests in Fire Planning and Data Management (2023 - 2024; US Forest Service)

Selected Publications

• Stewart, T.; D'Evelyn, S.; Faiella, J.; Sanchez, F.; Mueller, K.; Montrose, L.; Walker, E.S. (2026) “Blazing a trail for fire management and smoke health collaboration: Takeaways from the 2024 Rocky Mountain Wildfire Smoke Symposium.” GeoHealth, 10.

• Douglas, M.L.; Sanchez-Trigueros, F.; Borrie, W.T.; Watson, A.E.; Christensen, N.A. (2020). Social conditions, visitor flow & travel simulation model for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. 2nd Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive.

• Stumpff, L.M.; Sánchez-Trigueros, F.; Watson, A.; Mdodi, F.; Teasdale, A. (2020). Grassland, forest and riparian ecosystems on mixed-ownership federal lands adjacent to the Crow Reservation: developing a protective shield for sustainability of the environment and culture from impacts of climate-related disturbance. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-410. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 84 p.

• Wynecoop, M.D.; Morgan, P.; Strand, E.; Sanchez-Trigueros, F. (2019) “Getting back to fire suméŝ: exploring a multi-disciplinary approach to incorporating traditional knowledge into fuels treatments”. Fire Ecology, 15: 17. 

• Baldauf-McBride., B.; Sanchez-Trigueros, F.; Carver, S.; Watson. A.; Stumpff, L.M.; Matt, R.; Borrie, W.T. (2017) “Participatory Geographic Information Systems as an organizational platform for the integration of traditional and scientific knowledge in contemporary fire and fuels management”. Journal of Forestry 115 (1): 43-50.