Reagan Wytsalucy

Biography

Reagan Wytsalucy is the Agriculture, Natural Resources, and 4-H Extension Assistant Professor for San Juan County, Utah State University Extension. She is a Diné member raised in Gallup, NM. Reagan completed her M.S. degree at USU, which focused on studying under-utilized traditional Native American food crops including horticultural practices, genetic diversity and cultural importance. Her completed research encompasses various agricultural and ethnographic approaches to understanding the significance of the Southwest peach and Navajo spinach (Cleome serrulata) to the Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni Nations. She currently works to provide educational programing in Animal and Plant Sciences and is collaborating in state efforts to successfully propagate native food plants to encourage local sustainability within Native American communities.

Reagan will present findings that show Native American communities are experiencing higher rates of mental and behavioral health disorders that stem from generational trauma and lack of cultural heritage. She’ll discuss how San Juan County gardening programs are focusing efforts to re-introduce foundational practices that allow Native Americans to reconnect with the land and initiate local healing for spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical health.