Chumash Woman Earns Doctorate

Nicolasa Sandoval, a member of the Board of Directors at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, will be the first Chumash to receive a doctorate from UC Santa Barbara. Sandoval has a long history of museum experience, having spent the seven years preceding her UCSB education working at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. As Assistant Director of Community Services at the NMAI, Sandoval created and delivered outreach products and services targeting Native American communities in the Western Hemisphere. From the Chumash community located on the Santa Ynez Indian Reservation in California, she continues to dedicate her life to increasing community access to artistic, cultural, and educational resources. Sandoval also serves nonprofit organizations throughout the Central Coast through her work with the Nonprofit Support Center.