2023 TELS Recap

The 2023 Tribal Environmental Leaders Summit was a hybrid conference hosted at the Shoshone-Bannock Casino Hotel in Fort Hall, ID.

The theme of the 2023 TELS was “Connecting to Protect the Sacredness of Place and Being.”

2023 Presentations

TELS Reports

Region 10 Tribal Environmental Leaders Summit Report from Whova

2023 Region 10 Tribal Environmental Leaders Summit Report

2023 Tribal Environmental Excellence Award

Celeste Davis is the 2023 recipient of the Tribal Environmental Excellence Award. This was awarded posthumously at the 2023 Tribal Environmental Leaders Summit in Fort Hall Idaho. 

Celeste was a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, born in Alaska and grew up in Oklahoma. She was a Registered Environmental Health Specialist who earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Health Science from East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, and a Master of Public Health degree in Occupational and Environmental Health from the University of Oklahoma. She was working on her PhD in Health Systems Management and Policy at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health.  In her own words, she enjoyed “travelling all over the world, going to rock concerts, playing and watching sports, anything outdoors – hiking and fishing, and hanging out with…family, friends, and cats.” Her favorite color was purple.

Celeste retired from the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps. after a 20-year service career in February 2017. Her last USPHS assignment was as the Director of for the Division of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) and the Emergency Management Coordinator for the Indian Health Service (IHS), Portland Area. During her career, she served 130 Tribes and Alaska Native Villages through a variety of environmental public health positions in the southeastern U.S., Alaska, New Mexico and Pacific Northwest.

When she started at NPAIHB in 2020, she stated, “I hope my broad work experience in public health…assessment and inspection, environmental and epidemiological investigations, training, policy development, program and project management, and evaluation will be valuable to the Tribes of the Pacific Northwest.” Celeste was incredibly valuable to NPAIHB, Northwest Tribes, and Tribal Nations across Indian Country.  Her legacy will continue in Tribal Environmental Public Health long into the future through the work she did and through those that she mentored.

Celeste led the establishment and strategic management of the NPAIHB Environmental Public Health program. She was instrumental to leading NPAIHB’s Covid-19 response as the NPAIHB Incident Commander in service to Northwest Tribes. Most recently, her vision and team was awarded the National Environmental Health Association Gold Star Award (pic of team attached at conference after award https://www.neha.org/ai-an-awards-2022)

For those who worked with Celeste, they will remember her tenacity, kindness, and tireless advocacy for Tribal Environmental Public Health programs. She had a passion and skill for mentoring and developing people to full potential.  As was shared by close friends of hers, “Celeste would want us all to do better and be better to each other.”