October 30, 2025
Earlier this fall, members of the Transformation Network team at The University of Arizona (UA) and Northern Arizona University (NAU) visited their community partners in Monument Valley Park. The research teams at UA and NAU have worked closely with community members in Monument Valley Park to co-design and install off-grid water purification systems to make clean water more accessible for households in the community. This installation involved partners at Diné College and is also part of the work happening under Indigenous Resilience Center at UA and Native FEWS Alliance.
The installation team that visited in early October included Dr. Vicky Karanikola (UA Associate Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and PI of KORES Lab), Hunter Gudenkauf (UA, Research Tech at KORES Lab), Lynn Carroll (Chemical and Environmental Engineering PhD Student at KORES Lab), Dr. Tommy Rock (NAU Assistant Research Professor and main liaison with the community), and Neilroy Singer (Research Tech at Diné College).
There are about ten households in Monument Valley Park and this research team has been co-developing off-grid water filtration systems with the community since 2023. Historically, community members have had to travel large distances to haul water back to their homes, but the treatment systems have made it possible to collect water at a local spring, store it, and clean it so it is safe for consumption. As of October, five of the ten households have systems installed and future visits to the community will be made to install additional systems and make updates to current systems. During the October 2025 visit, the team installed a new system in the fifth household, conducted community surveys to learn about how the systems are working and what they would like to see in the future, and did sampling on previously installed systems.
Check out photos from their trip:
Hunter Gudenkauf (UA, research tech) installing the battery of the solar UV treatment system in one of the residents house in Monument Valley Park.
Community and installation team picture while UA team members were updating one of the systems in a community member’s house.
Dr. Tommy Rock (NAU Assistant Research Professor and main liaison with the community) and Hunter Gudenkauf (UA, Research Tech) installing a photovoltaic panel in one of the resident’s homes in Monument Valley Park.
Installation Team picture at the end of the day in Monument Valley Park. From left to right: Dr. Vicky Karanikola (UA Associate Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and PI of KORES Lab), Hunter Gudenkauf (UA, Research Technician at KORES Lab), Lynn Carroll (Chemical and Environmental Engineering PhD student at KORES Lab), Dr. Tommy Rock (NAU Assistant Research Professor and main liaison with the community), and Neilroy Singer (Research Technician at Diné College).