Simone recently joined the board in 2022. After receiving her B.S. in Geology from UCLA in 2021, she moved to San Jose, CA to continue her graduate education at SJSU where she currently studies Active Tectonics. While there, she connected with other Natives working with the Indian Health Center and started attending and volunteering at events. She is always happy to help and advocate for the health and well-being of the Native American community.
Building community and understanding the connections between culture and science are important to her. In her leadership roles as a teaching assistant, GeoPaths peer mentor, and President of the Geology Club at SJSU, she diligently reaches out to help the Native American community by including and learning from indigenous perspectives.
Recently, she was selected for an internship at the USGS Earthquake Science Center in Moffett Field, CA. She enjoys working in this field, because studying active tectonics is important for mitigating earthquake hazards, especially in urban areas and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities living near active faults. This year during the great shakeout, she updated her community on current earthquake hazards and safety practices by providing the Indian Health Center, Horace Mann Elementary School, and SJSU with resources to be better prepared for the next earthquake.