YVETTE RUNNING HORSE COLLIN

Dr. Yvette Running Horse Collin (Tašunke Iyanke Wiŋ) is the Executive Director and Principal Science Officer for Taku Skan Skan Wasakliyapi: Global Institute for Traditional Sciences (GIFTS), established and governed by Oglala Lakota Elder Knowledge Keepers for the purpose of collaborating across scientific systems to sustain and preserve all life. GIFTS is headquartered in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the geographic center of her Lakota Peoples’ scientific systems and the spiritual center of their lifeways. Dr. Running Horse Collin is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Nation (Oglala Sioux Tribe). Dr. Running Horse Collin is a graduate of The Johns Hopkins University, New York University, and the University of Fairbanks Alaska. She completed her post-doctoral work in ancient genomics at Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse (CAGT).  Her post-doctoral work was sponsored by the European Union through a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Fellowship. She received a University Medal from Paul Sabatier University of Toulouse, France for her cross-cultural and collaborative scientific leadership. Her post-doctoral genomics research on the horse has been published and reported in numerous publications and media around the world. Her collaborative team was awarded the 2024 Newcomb Cleveland Prize by The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for their paper entitled, “Early Dispersal of Domestic Horses into the Great Plains and Northern Rockies.” Her most recent published work titled "Sustainability insights from late Pleistocene climate change and horse migration patterns" received the May 15, 2025 cover of Science.