Crouch, Carol Vallee
Carol Vallee Crouch
Dr. Carol Vallee Crouch is the State Tribal Liaison in Oklahoma for the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Science (USDA-NRCS) program. Crouch is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation in Pablo, Montana. She uses her expertise and experience as a tribal member to ensure the inclusion of tribal voices at the NRCS. She has also recruited American Indian college students to work with the NRCS in environmental science and natural resources.
“I am hopeful that progress can be made to protect future generations from environmental hazards.” - Carol Vallee Crouch, 2005.
Carol Vallee Crouch is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation in Pablo, Montana. She was born in 1950 in Yakima, Washington, to John and Ada Vallee. Her father was a former Boeing employee whose job required him to relocate frequently. Her mother was a homemaker who worked briefly in electronics and helped design and build the first Automatic Teller Machine (ATM). Dr. Crouch is the oldest of eight children and graduated from Richardson High School in Texas.
After graduating high school, Dr. Crouch did not think she could afford college and postponed continuing her education. She went to work as a dental consultant for 20 years and later became interested in how the environment and occupational health are connected. Dr. Crouch was further motivated to return to school because she believed in the importance of preserving American Indian land and setting a positive example for youth.
In 1994, Dr. Crouch received a scholarship from the Indian Health Scholarship program to pursue her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Management from East Central Oklahoma State University.
In 1997, Dr. Crouch was selected for the Tribal Lands Environmental Science Program at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), eventually leading to an internship with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) in 1998. At the USDA-NRCS, Dr. Crouch served as a District Conservationist, where she worked with national tribal organizations to promote the conservation of natural and cultural resources and ensure that agencies abide by environmental policies and regulations.
She continued her education and earned a master’s of public health in Occupational Environmental Health from Oklahoma State University. She earned a second master’s in Environmental Management from the University of Oklahoma in 2002, and two years later, in 2004, she received her Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Management from Oklahoma State University. While completing her doctoral studies, Dr. Crouch’s dedication was recognized with the National Presidential Fellowship for Water, Energy, and the Environment.
In her current role as the State Tribal Liaison, she is the point of contact between NRCS and Oklahoma’s Native American Tribes. In her role, she has also been able to recruit American Indian college students, which she considers the highlight of her career. Dr. Crouch was awarded the National Diversity Civil Rights Award from the USDA.
However, Dr. Crouch has had her fair share of challenging times and has overcome tremendous personal loss with the support of her children and several mentors. Over the years, she lost her mother, brother, and daughter-in-law. She also supported her father when he suffered from a brain tumor and her son when he lost his eyesight in one eye. Her children – whom she considers her most significant achievement – refused to let her give up on her goals.
Numerous mentors have encouraged Dr. Crouch, including individuals from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), the EPA, and Oklahoma State University. John B. Herrington, the first American Indian astronaut to fly in space with NASA, encouraged her to continue her studies despite personal tragedies. Moreover, support from Darrel Dominick from the NRCS helped Dr. Crouch to work full-time through the student trainee program while attending university.
Dr. Crouch’s work with American Indian youth illuminated how little information is given to them regarding educational opportunities and environmental issues. She feels that their lack of access is connected to the many environmental injustices the community already faces. She states that policies designed to protect American Indians and the environment have kept her in the field. She is hopeful there will be more progress to protect future generations from environmental hazards. In her career, she has helped bridge knowledge gaps about American Indian culture. She works with other tribal members to present Harmony Workshops to government employees so that they can learn proper protocol and practices when working with tribal communities.
Dr. Crouch has mentored several students through the U.S. Department of Labor’s JEM-SET Demonstration Project, a mentoring program sponsored by the agency’s Women’s Bureau designed to match female professionals with female students of color at universities nationwide. She mentored three American Indian college students who are members of the AISES, all pursuing degrees in environmental science, natural resources, and environmental engineering. Dr. Crouch also independently helped 72 American Indian students secure funding to attend college, many of whom were referred to her through personal connections.
Dr. Crouch encourages American Indian youth considering environmental careers to stay committed to their education. She shares an elder’s belief that all people are connected to the earth’s resources and the Native proverb, “Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children” (2005). She advises American Indian youth to work toward improved environmental conditions, regardless of their field of study. She wants more American Indians to attend college, potentially earning doctorates, as she feels that very few American Indians attain that level of education. Dr. Crouch’s determination to pursue her goals exemplifies what is possible for young people of color nationwide.
Interview conducted by Multicultural Environmental Leadership Development Initiative staff. 2016. University of Michigan – School of Natural Resources and Environment. Ann Arbor, MI.
Taylor, Dorceta (Ed.). 2005. The Paths We Thread: Profiles of the Careers of Minority Environmental Professionals. Minority Environmental Leadership Development Initiative, University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment.