Tai Kondo Koester

Tai Kondo Koester is a PhD candidate in the School of Geography, Development, & Environment at University of Arizona. His research interests focus on how global energy shifts from fossil fuels to alternative energy technologies are shaping the political and economic futures of rural communities and tribal nations. Tai’s dissertation work explores the impacts of intensifying rare earth processing and uranium extraction development in southern Utah through the lived experiences of local residents and tribes. Before coming to Arizona, Tai worked as a community organizer for Northern Plains Resource Council, a grassroots conservation and family agriculture non-profit in rural Montana, and as a field tech at the University of Colorado’s Mountain Research Station. He holds a masters in Geography from the University of Arizona and two bachelors in Geography and Ecology/Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado – Boulder.