Heather Ponchetti Daly

Heather Ponchetti Daly

Heather Ponchetti Daly | Historian and food sovereignty advocate (Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel), Dr. Daly's work centers on understanding 20th-century Native American political history and promoting Indigenous food sovereignty. She is a faculty member at UC San Diego and is actively designing the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Lab, a research initiative that merges history, law, and traditional food practices. Through her academic and committee work (including UC NAGPRA), she helps reindigenize the academy—applying traditional ecological knowledge to modern legal and environmental studies while ensuring Native voices are centered in discussions of culture and land.