Helena (she/her) was born and raised in Tucson and is Hopi and Navajo. She graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelors in Plant Science and Minor in Biochemistry with a focus in genetics, genomics, and propagation.
She has dedicated her life to crop conservation to preserve the diversity and the history of heirloom crops. Helena is the Seed Bank Manager at Native Seeds/SEARCH where she organizes and cares for the seeds in the seed bank.
She enjoys gardening, caring for animals and critters, learning new things, eating sweets, and playing games.