Molly Lowney
2026 WCOA Fellow Blog
Hello! My name is Molly Lowney, the WCOA Fellow at Blue Lake Rancheria Sustainability and Environmental Departments. I’m originally from Gilroy, CA, but have called many other places home over the past few years. I graduated with a BA in Environmental Ethics & Policy from the University of Portland in 2021. Afterwards, I lived and worked in Seattle, WA; Catalina Island, CA; Sevilla, Spain; and Galway, Ireland. I recently graduated with my MSc in Coastal and Marine Environments from the University of Galway in 2025, where my dissertation focused on evaluating social-ecological system change at Point Reyes National Seashore.
My fellowship with Blue Lake Rancheria has been an incredible learning experience so far. While my position is primarily remote, I spent the first week of the fellowship in person at Blue Lake Rancheria (BLR). My colleagues took me on a tour of BLR’s campus, which included their solar powered microgrid and Daluviwi’ Community Garden. BLR’s Environmental Department has also been in the process of assuming stewardship of different lands in the area through land return efforts. BLR’s Native Plant Specialist Karley Rojas guided us on a tour of Leavey Ranch, a former dairy that will now support BLR’s Food Sovereignty Program and Native Plant Nursery. Later in the week the Environmental Department took us on a tour of a newly acquired property in the Bracut area of Humboldt County, where they plan to convert the current cattle grazing area back to coastal wetland habitat. My week in person at BLR filled me with excitement for the year ahead. It was inspiring to witness the impact of the Tribe’s work on their community and the land that they steward.
Since then, I have been supporting the Sustainability Department with different projects focused on coastal community development and environmental policy. I have written briefs summarizing the engagement process timeline for offshore oil and gas drilling and major environmental policy rollbacks at the federal level. I have also co-written comment letters stating the Tribe’s position on emerging coastal development. Most recently, I have been supporting the planning efforts for the Pathways to Trust training that will be hosted on BLR’s campus in May, in collaboration with the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy. I am grateful for the invaluable lessons of the past three months with BLR, and I look forward to the rest of my fellowship!
