Laurie Suter

Affiliation

Tohono O'odham Nation Minerals Program

Biography

The Tohono O’odham Nation is a federally recognized Sovereign Tribal Nation, located in southern Arizona, consisting of 2.8 million acres of desert terrain with two active mines as well as hundreds of patented, unpatented, legacy, orphaned and abandoned mine sites on the Nation. The O’odham legacy of mining began with Spanish colonizers looking for gold in the 1500’s. Impacts from mining on sacred sites are of great concern for tribal communities. Ms. Laurie Suter has worked for the Nation since 2008 with an extensive background including geology, minerals, oil and gas exploration, soils analysis, laboratory administration, brownfields sites, assessments, and biology.