Kina (Together)

Anna Wirta Kosobuski, EdD is a Bois Forte Band of Chippewa (Ojibwe) band member. Dr. Wirta Kosobuski has worked at the University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth Campus since 1995. Her entire medical school career has centered on developing science enrichment programs for Native American students of all ages. Many of these projects have been developed and are carried out in partnership with area Native American communities. 

In 2013, Dr. Wirta joined the Department of Biomedical Sciences as an Assistant Professor after several years as the Associate Director of the Center of American Indian and Minority Health. In her faculty position, Dr. Wirta Kosobuski creates a wide variety of educational opportunities and resources for Native American youth including science programming, science activity books and nutrition and wellness activity books. In response to the worldwide need for accurate information about COVID-19 and its life-changing impacts, she has led the creation of a series of COVID-19 resources, many of which are available in English, Somali, Hmong, and Spanish.  

Contact Dr. Wirta at awirta1@d.umn.edu

Rachel King-Siert, MEd is an enrolled member in the Red Lake Nation of Northern Minnesota and Navajo Nation.  In 2016, she completed her Masters in Education - Youth Development at the UMN - Twin Cities with a focus on experiential learning and learning through community. Over the years she has worked with several organizations in the area of academic outreach and curriculum development in diverse communities. Rachel has been working on several STEM activity books with Ojibwe culture and language infused with the curriculum of the books. She will also be working on a distance learning project with Nett Lake Elementary School, developing hands-on learning activities to supplement lessons learned in their classroom. Rachel is an active member of her community outside of work time. She is a member of the Indigenous Women’s Water Sisterhood, Parent Fellow with Voices of Racial Justice, and St. Louis Park District Instructional Program Advisory Council. In addition, she loves sewing, beading and leather crafting. 

Contact Rachel at king0268@umn.edu

Jordan Rodgers, Oglala Lakota, graduated from Harbor International High School, Duluth, Minnesota, in 2017. She also attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design for a year. She has been working with Dr. Anna Wirta Kosobuski since 2017 illustrating a variety of educational resources including Ojibwe-English K- 6th grade STEM and nutrition activity books and COVID-19 education and awareness materials.  Jordan has also illustrated five children's books through the Black Bear and Blueberries Publishing.  She enjoys video games, astrology, and musicals.

Contact Jordan at jrodgers@d.umn.edu