Mary Beth Jäger is a citizen of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Xicana, and German-descent. She works as a research analyst for the Native Nations Institute (NNI) at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy. Jäger earned a BA at Carroll College in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and a MSW focused in Social and Economic Development in Indigenous Communities from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis.

Mary Beth’s work at NNI expands across a diverse range of indigenous governance areas. Recently, her research focuses on Indigenous data and food sovereignty. Jäger serves as a Co-lead and Co-PI for the Indigenous Foods Knowledges Network , funded by the National Science Foundation (Award Number 1745499) and part of Navigating the New Arctic Initiative. The goal of this research coordination network is “to a develop a network comprised of Indigenous leaders, community practitioners, and scholars (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous) who are focused on research and community capacity related to food sovereignty and Indigenous Knowledges” in the Arctic and US Southwest (ifkn.org). In addition, she serves as a Co-PI for the comparative study of COVID-19 impacts on Indigenous individuals’ food access, security and sovereignty in Alaska and the U.S. Southwest (NSF-OPP Award Numbers 203516). One key aspect of these two projects is co-producing knowledge with fellow Indigenous collaborators.

Overall, as a research analyst Mary Beth Jäger feels accountable to Indigenous People and Native nations the land and non-human kin she works with on various projects and her own Native nation.