Lydia grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico (Tewa lands) and is Wixárika (Huichol) and Pascua Yaqui (Yoeme). Lydia earned her Bachelors of Science from California State University, Monterey Bay in Environmental Science, Technology and Policy. Lydia now resides in Tucson, Arizona (O’odham & Yaqui lands) where she is studying at the University of Arizona in the Department of Environmental Sciences, with a minor in American Indian Policy. Her research interests are in soil health, environmental remediation, Indigenous food and land sovereignty, mining policy, and environmental data ownership by tribal nations. Lydia is a 2014 University of Arizona NIEHS Superfund Program trainee, a 2015 recipient of National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program, a 2019 American Geophysical Union “Voices for Science” Fellow, and a Native Nations Institute Indigenous Data Sovereignty Doctoral Scholar.