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Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals

Listening to Tribes and understanding Tribal priorities drives our programs and services we offer.

Tribal Waste & Response Program

Tribal Waste and Response Program (TWARP)

Contact Us
Tribal Waste and Response Steering Committee
PO Box 15004
Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5004

Tribal Waste and Response Steering Committee

Click on a committee member’s photo to read their bio and contact information.

Rebecca Stevens

Coeur d'Alene Tribe
Chair

Tracy Horst

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Vice Chair

Victoria Flowers

Oneida Nation

Rob Roy

La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians

Joy Britt

Chignik Bay Tribal Council

Virginia 'Osh' LeClere

Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation

Augusta Edmund

Alakanuk Village Traditional Council

Richard Chiolero

Chickaloon Village Traditional Council

Loren Jojola

Isleta Pueblo

CONNECT WITH US

Todd Barnell
Program Manager
Todd.Barnell@nau.edu

Julie Meikowski
Assistant Manager
Julie.Meikowski@nau.edu

Amanda Kapp
Program Coordinator, Sr.
Amanda.Kapp@nau.edu

TWAR Team
TWARSC Members
Newsletter
TWAR Calendar
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Rebecca Stevens

Chair

Coeur d’Alene Tribe – Idaho

Program Manager/Restoration Coordinator
Working with the Tribe since: 2005

Rebecca is the Program Manager for the Tribe’s Natural Resources Department-Hazardous Waste Management Program. She also serves the role as the Restoration Coordinator with the Restoration Partnership. Rebecca has been working on water quality related issues for over 19 years. She represents the Tribe in the Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Complex Superfund Site working with EPA while implementing their remedy for the Basin. She is also the Tribe’s Restoration Coordinator for the Restoration Partnership for which all Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) claims have been settled and on the ground restoration work has been underway since 2019. Rebecca continues to work with other Tribes on NRDA issues while coordinating with the US DOI, USDA, and the State of Idaho.

Rebecca is a proud member of the Tribal Waste and Response Steering Committee where she also serves on the Tribal Superfund Work Group and Advisory Council. Rebecca enjoys x-country skiing in the winter, summertime water sports, Frisbee golf, and spending time with her friends, family, and blue heeler. Rebecca is very honored to work for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and is proud to be a part of restoring natural resources in the Coeur d’Alene Basin.

Rebecca can be reached by e-mail at rstevens@cdatribe-nsn.gov.

Tracy Horst

Vice Chair

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Tracy Horst is the Environmental Compliance Director for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry from Southwestern College. Tracy has an avid interest in recycling and the environment. She has helped to create recycling infrastructure across the Choctaw Nation’s 11 counties and throughout Oklahoma. In addition to TWRAP, she has served the Oklahoma Recycling Association (OKRA) for over seven years as a Board Member, Vice President, President, and is now serving as Past President.

Tracy enjoys cooking, traveling and working on her flower beds, garden and yard.

Tracy can be reached by e-mail at thorst@choctawnation.com.

Victoria Flowers

Oneida Nation

Victoria Flowers is the Environmental Compliance Coordinator. She is a leader among tribal professionals in the world of underground storage tanks and has developed and delivered trainings on this topic to Tribes across the country. Ms. Flowers got her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Geology from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Through her position with the Tribe, Ms. Flowers acts as an adjunct instructor for the Kansas State University (KSU) Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) Program and was the Lead Facilitator at the Region 5 Tribal Brownfields Conference. She was also a representative to the Midwest Assistance Program Tribal Training Program and has been on the Tribal Waste and Response Assistance Program National Steering Committee since 2011. She enjoys spending her free time working on her hobby farm, horseback riding, doing agility trials with her dog, and traveling..

Victoria can be reached by e-mail at vflowers@oneidanation.org.

Rob Roy

La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians

Rob Roy is the Environmental Director for the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians and has been employed by the Tribe for over 14 years. He is responsible for the Environmental Protection Office which employs a staff of seven people working on clean water, air quality, solid waste, wastewater, natural resources, and other critical environmental and human health issues, and also works closely with the Domestic Water and other Tribal Departments. His education is in Geographic Information Systems and he previously worked for the City of San Diego Environmental Services Department. Rob received the EPA Environmental Achievement Award in 2008 for his work with solid waste management including recycling, reducing illegal dumping, hazardous and electronic waste recycling, tire cleanup, and disaster recovery. Rob works hard to foster collaboration between groups to achieve common goals and increase the scope and impact of projects. He also serves as a member of the TWRAP steering committee, as an RTOC rep and RTOC Solid Waste Workgroup lead, and as team co-lead on the Interagency Infrastructure Task Force Solid Waste Workgroup. Rob has a passion for the natural world and goes travelling, hiking and backpacking whenever he can.

Rob can be reached by e-mail at rob.roy@lajolla-nsn.gov.

Joy Britt

Chignik Bay Tribal Council

Joy Britt was born and raised on the tropical island of Guam, USA. Being raised on an island located on the ring of fire, she is no stranger to the effects of nature’s most destructive forces, including earthquakes, typhoons, and the consequential environmental impacts to human health. Three years of her adolescence were spent without running water or power due to severe storms and latent repairs to the island’s infrastructure. Such early experiences in observing the need for access to healthcare led to her passion for public health and her current line of work and serving communities in Alaska. Joy works with the Chignik Bay Tribal Council as Senior Project Manager and Grant Writer. She is accountable for all aspects of project planning, grant writing, funding, and implementation of various projects. Joy received her Bachelor’s of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and a Master’s degree in Public Health Practice.

Joy can be reached by e-mail at joybritt20@gmail.com

Virginia 'Osh' LeClere

Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation

Virginia ‘Osh’ LeClere is the Environmental Manager for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in Kansas and Illinois. She is a proud graduate/alumnus of Haskell Indian Nations University, Friends University and Baker University. She has served the Tribe’s Planning and Environmental Protection Department in several capacities over the past 24 years, working in the environmental planning, air quality, and solid waste programs prior to taking a management role. Virginia is currently a delegate to the Region 7 Joint USEPA/Tribal Operations Committee and an alternate delegate to the National Tribal Caucus.

She enjoys all things outdoors, especially gardening, running, and camping. She also loves traveling to the Great Lakes (and original homelands of the Prairie Band Potawatomi), with her family for powwows every summer.

Virginia can be reached by e-mail at virginialeclere@pbpnation.org

Augusta Edmund

Alakanuk Village Traditional Council

My name is Augusta Edmund, Yup’ik names are Ikuyunilruq & Cagluaq. I received my English name from my late maternal grandmother. I’m the 2nd oldest daughter of 12 children (8 boys & 4 girls) of late Lawrence Edmund Sr. from Alakanuk (Yup’ik name Pagnualria) and late Adeline Edmund (maiden name Raphael originally from Nunam Iqua, Yup’ik name Panigkaq). Alakanuk is located in Southwest Alaska, within the Yukon Delta National Refuge, 15 miles east of the Bering Sea, and near the mouth of the Yukon River. I have 6 beautiful daughters, 8 grandsons, and 5 granddaughters.

I was hired as the Alakanuk Tribal EPA IGAP Assistant in April of 2017 and promoted to the Director position in November of 2017. I’ve held many positions from Human Services, Fish Processing Industry, and customer service. I’ve come to enjoy my position as the Alakanuk Tribal EPA IGAP Director and am very thankful our IGAP Team is making a difference in our community and surrounding communities. I am thankful for the way my parents raised me to respect and care for the land & waters within our Yup’ik culture.

Since becoming the director, Alakanuk IGAP has received recognitions: Above & Beyond award through SWAT 2019 during ATCEM 2019, YRITWC Watershed Hero within the YRITWC Summit in 2019, SWAT ROCKSTAR in 2020, ATCEM Statewide Community/Group Excellence Award in 2024, and SWAT Statewide Community/Group Excellence Award in 2024.

Augusta can be reached by e-mail at aukigap@gmail.com

Richard Chiolero

Chickaloon Village Traditional Council

Richard Chiolero has served as the Tribal Response Program Coordinator for the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council since April 2019, coming into this role with over a decade of experience in academic science laboratories. He has developed a diverse skill set across many disciplines that is highly applicable and adaptable to the ever-changing environmental field. In this role, Richard is committed to advancing brownfield redevelopment and environmental health initiatives. He is passionate about outreach and enjoys teaching communities about the complexities of brownfields and environmental management.

Outside of work, Richard enjoys exploring nature with his loving wife, Selena, and their French bulldog, Agatha. He believes in the importance of lifelong learning and is dedicated to studying foreign languages. Richard is honored to work for the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council and appreciates the opportunity to learn the Ahtna language and culture. He holds Bachelor’s Degrees in Biology and French from California State University, Sacramento, and an Associate’s in Applied Science in Occupational Safety and Health from the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

Richard can be reached by e-mail at rechiolero@chickaloon-nsn.gov

Loren Jojola

Isleta Pueblo

Loren Jojola was born and raised on the Isleta Pueblo Indian reservation in New Mexico. He is a proud member of the Pueblo and growing up has seen such a dramatic change in how we handle our waste. He remembers driving to the “dump”, which was an open space of land, unmanned and you would dump your trash in whatever pile was burning. He still lives in the Pueblo and sees how the times have changed.

Loren started working for and serving his Pueblo in 2006. When he began in the solid waste department as a driver on his trips to the landfill he realized how sad it was to see where his Pueblo’s waste lands up. It lands in a big hole in the mountains. The joys of driving to the landfill are seeing the wildlife, the deer and elk, but it saddened him at the same time by seeing his Pueblo’s waste left there. This is when he learned the importance of waste diversion and recycling.

Today Loren manages the Pueblo of Isleta Solid Waste Department. He has worked to build a sustainable and successful recycle program. His home Pueblo now has curbside residential recycling services all started with grant funding. He has worked to clean up illegal dumps on his reservation and he also started a successful scrap tire management program both with grant funding. He expanded recycling operations Pueblo-wide, including commercial waste hauling operations.

Loren also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the New Mexico Recycling Coalition. There he kindly and skillfully shares his knowledge, learns from colleagues and demonstrates strong leadership skills in the solid waste and recycling industry. Furthermore, Loren is familiar with how to use his skills to create innovative programs to divert material from the landfill. Loren is always willing to “talk trash” with anyone and can be reached by email.

Loren can be reached by e-mail at Loren.Jojola@isletapueblo.com

National Tribal Forum on Air Quality

The National Tribal Forum on Air Quality (NTFAQ) aims to support tribal programs by fostering information-sharing and networking opportunities that are focused on building tribal capacity in air quality management. The event’s agenda is driven by tribal input and priorities, with a focus on increasing tribal engagement in air quality initiatives that are relevant to tribal communities across the nation.