The Steven Manley Memorial Lecture

Established in Memory of Steven Manley (1958 - 1979).  While working for his second summer as a firefighter with the California Division of Forestry, Steve Manley and three other firefighters lost their lives on August 15, 1979, battling a brush wildfire near Santa Maria. He was a 21-year old Environmental Studies Major in his third year at UCSB at the time. Steve Manley was an active proponent of the protection, conservation and planned use of the environmental landscape. It was his field of study and way of life. His summer firefighting job was directly related to his desire to learn by doing in the protection of the land. He had a lifelong interest in the outdoors, the sea and physical activity. This lecture series is a celebration of his life.

40^th Annual Steven Manley Memorial Lecture 

Talk Title: "Decolonizing And Indigenizing Environmental Justice"

Date: Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at 3:30pm

Location: UCSB Bren Hall 1414

View the lecture flier here. Watch a recording of the talk here. 

Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes) is a lecturer of American Indian Studies at California State University San Marcos and independent educator/advisor on Indigenous environmental issues. She is a sought-after speaker and has addressed and advised a wide array of academic disciplines and organizations in the realms of conservation, law, science, government, outdoor sports, and more. As a freelance journalist, her work has appeared in Indian Country Today, Los Angeles Times, High Country News, Sierra Magazine, Time.com, Slate, History.com, Bioneers, Truthout, the Pacifica Network, Grist, CSPAN Booktalk, The Boston Globe, and many more. She has won numerous awards for her writing, including awards from the Native American Journalists Association. Her research interests focus on Indigenous nationalism, self-determination, environmental justice, and education. For several years she was involved with Indigenous peoples’ participation in the United Nations arena. She also works within the academic field of critical sports studies, examining the intersections of indigeneity and the sport of surfing. Dina helped author AB 1782 in 2018, a bill to make surfing California’s state sport and regularly works within surf culture elevating the perspectives of Indigenous surfers, youth, and communities.

In 2016 she published her first book along with coauthor Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, “All the Real Indians Died Off” and 20 Other Myths About Native Americans (Beacon Press). Her most recent book is the critically acclaimed and award-winning As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice from Colonization to Standing Rock (Beacon Press, 2019). Dina is currently under contract with Beacon Press for two new books under the working titles Illegitimate Nation: Privilege, Race, and Belonging in the U.S. Settler State, and Claiming Native: Authenticity, Ethnic Fraud, and the Messy Ambiguity of Native Identity.

Past Steven Manley Memorial Lecturers