
Director, CONSERVE Research Program
A native of Mississippi, Fedoroff earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Anthropology from the University of Southern Mississippi and his Ph.D. in Anthropology from The University of Alabama. He has been working in the environmental and applied anthropology arena since 2009 with his last assignment serving as the deputy director and research lead for the United States Army Corps of Engineers National Technical Center for Tribal Nations— headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This position allowed Fedoroff work directly with Indigenous communities, DoD, and other federal agencies to collaborate and apply best science to water resource operations and environmental challenges across the U.S. He has served on several national policy groups for water and environmental challenges while directing regional level environmental compliance for multi-jurisdictional and transboundary projects. His current scholarship includes several national technical guidance reports on Indigenous issues including lead author of the DoD Legacy Program’s Tribal Engagement Guidebook designed to support Indigenous community engagement across the DoD service branches. Fedoroff’s specific research interests include Indigenous Knowledge Systems, traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous water intelligence, collaborative research strategies, cultural keystone species ecology, watershed biodiversity and climate change adaptation. His role at AWI is in leading the CONSERVE research initiative designed to develop interdisciplinary teams to apply best science to wicked water problems.