Staff spotlight: Eliana Massey

The Environmental Humanities Program has a strong history of collaborating with local communities to promote environmental justice. Our students frequently participate in community-based research and creative projects to help build healthy, safe, and thriving futures, particularly those most impacted by environmental crises. The program maintains ongoing partnerships with groups such as Utah Youth for Environmental Solutions (UYES), the Tracy Aviary Nature Center at Pia Okwai, and the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation. Thanks to generous Mellon Foundation funding, we’ve hired a new Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator (CEOC) to support these efforts. We’re excited to introduce Eliana Massey in this interview, so you can get to know her better.  

Please introduce yourself to the EH community. 

I grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas, within the homelands of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. Today, their capital lies about 90 miles north in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Wichita Falls is a small town just 25 miles southwest of the Red River, the southernmost major river system in the Great Plains. For much of its course, the Red River marks the border between Texas and Oklahoma. As a kid, I remember driving on the bridge over the Red River and looking down to see a cracked, dry martian red riverbed. When I was nine, Wichita Falls became the first city in Texas to endure 100 days of temperatures over 100°F in a single year. I grew up under the weight of a persistent stage four drought. Many front yards in our neighborhood had signs that read, “Pray for Rain.” I miss the powerful, yet rare, summer thunderstorms that would crash through the thick heat and bring us much-needed rain.   
When I moved to Utah, I almost immediately learned about the Great Salt Lake crisis. The urgency to rethink our relationship with water felt deeply familiar. As someone with European American, Mexican American, and Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) heritage, I often reflect on how water functions as an anchor in many family stories. Whether it’s a hydro-powered rice mill in Waipiʻo, drawing salty water from a South Texas well, learning to swim in the Pacific Ocean, or growing up along the Rio Grande River, these stories and bodies of water carry memories that might evaporate if they aren’t protected.   
My curiosity about how we construct knowledge about the natural world and our more-than-human relatives led me to pursue a bachelor’s degree in philosophy of science at the University of Utah. Motivated by a passion for community-engaged education, I also designed a custom honors bachelor’s degree in museum studies to develop informal education skills. Additionally, I earned certificates in community engagement and Pacific Island studies.  

You have an extensive background in community engagement and community-based research. For example, you've worked closely with Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities in Salt Lake City and Hawai'i. Can you tell us about some of this work? 

Growing up as a multiracial Native Hawaiian in a small, predominantly white city in North Texas, I had limited opportunities to connect with other Pacific Islanders. When I moved to Utah to attend the University of Utah, I was eager to engage with Utah’s vibrant Pacific Islander community—one of the largest in the continental U.S. Two ʻōlelo noʻeau (Hawaiian wise sayings) deeply inform my approach to community engagement: “Hoʻokahi nō lā o ka malihini” (“A stranger only for a day”) and “Ma ka hana ka ʻike” (“In working, one learns”). These sayings remind me to always actively contribute and to learn through meaningful collaboration.  
Since 2023, I’ve worked with the Utah Historical Society and Utah Education Network to address severe gaps in K–12 educational materials about Utah’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) history. This community-engaged research and resource development has involved collaboration with multiple state agencies and two community advisory boards. The NHPI educational resources, including historical timelines, biographies, and interactive data visualizations, are set for publication by May 2026. Where possible, I always seek to highlight trans-Indigenous relationships in Utah history, e.g. the historic and ongoing ties between the Skull Valley Band of Goshute and Native Hawaiians.  
For over two years, I also worked as a research assistant on the Nā Lei Poina ʻOle (Beloved Children Never Forgotten) project, led by Dr. Maile Arvin. Through this project, we explore the history of industrial schools and reformatories in Hawaiʻi and seek to promote intergenerational healing. In addition to extensive archival research, I participated in community engagement on Oʻahu for the past three summers. For example, I helped build and maintain a partnership with the North Shore Community Land Trust, which is restoring a traditional loʻi (taro cultivation patch) and loko iʻa (fishpond) on land where Native Hawaiian children were once incarcerated.   
From 2024 to 2025, I served on the governing board of the Center for Pasifika Indigenous Knowledges. In this role, I helped coordinate events, maintained strong relationships with our community advisory board, and represented the Center at major conferences, including the 2025 Native American Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) and the Australasian Association for Pacific Studies (AAPS). Through the Center for Pasifika Indigenous Knowledges, I partnered with the Utah Pacific Islander Health Coalition and Pacific Heritage Academy, a K–8 charter school located in Rose Park that integrates Polynesian culture and language, to create middle-grade lesson plans on Indigenous foodways. These lessons connect the food histories of Moananuiākea (the Pacific Islands), Turtle Island (North America), and Abya Yala (South America).

What are your goals for supporting the Environmental Humanities Program's community engagement mission?   

I hope to build on the strong foundation laid by previous coordinators, Fiona Summers and Brooke Larsen. In my role, I plan to support community engagement by assisting students pursuing community-engaged research, building and maintaining strong partnerships with community organizations and campus partners, and bridging the gap between our program and the wider community through managing the Community Practitioner-in-Residence program. I plan to conduct a comprehensive review of past community practitioners’ experiences and explore residency models from other academic programs. This will help improve our program’s ability to foster reciprocal, meaningful relationships. As we celebrate our program’s 20th anniversary, I also intend to create content that highlights our evolution into a deeply community-engaged program. By sharing our historical and ongoing community partnerships, we can clearly communicate our intentions and practices. This helps to build trust and opens doors for future collaborations. I am particularly excited to continue working with Indigenous communities through our partnership with the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation and my participation in the University of Utah’s Native Research Methods group.   

What do you enjoy doing outside of work? 

I enjoy spending time outside, whether it’s hiking, picnicking, or working in a garden. I’m always up for a museum visit or a local cultural event. Cooking or baking with friends can be a great way to connect and catch up. I also enjoy volunteering when I can, whether it's helping prepare meals with the Food Justice Coalition or leading storytime sessions at the King’s English Bookshop.