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Desiree Shelley Flores

Graduate Student
175 West Campus Dr., MC 0343
Blacksburg, VA 24061

Desiree is a George Washington Carver Scholar, graduate student and research assistant in the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education at Virginia Tech. As a graduate assistant, she has supported the Community Agency and Engagement for Native Students project. Her current academic research focuses on the connection between Indigenous language revitalization, traditional foodways and environmental conservation. 

Desiree graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Natural Resources Management and Minor in Spanish Language. She has worked in the fields of environmental education, natural resource management and environmental restoration in Baltimore City. Through her work in the non-profit sector and city government, she helped design and implement natural resource management plans, conservation education and service learning programs for city schools as well as trained and supported community volunteers with their restoration projects in local city parks. In recent years, Desiree has served as a Regional Organizing Manager with Sierra Club and Organizer at Mother’s Out Front where she supported environmental and climate justice initiatives in Virginia and the Northeast.

Desiree also serves as a Board Member for the Yesa:sahį Language Project and the Southwest Virginia Agrarian Commons. She is an alumni of the Women’s Earth Alliance Grassroots Accelerator Program and a dedicated seedkeeper of heirloom Yesah (Tutelo/Monacan) seeds. 

Desiree, lives in the Roanoke area with her husband, three kids, furry friends and lots of feathered farm animals. Desiree is a native plant enthusiast and in her free time, she enjoys hiking, camping, paddling, foraging and gardening as well as creative interests such as sewing, beading, drawing, painting and practicing yoga and and dance including powwow and traditional dances.