Laylalanai Gocobachi

University of Arizona, Ilíiaitchik: Indigenous Correspondents Program (ICP)

Laylalanai Gocobachi (she/her) is a Yaqui/Mayo Woman who was raised in the Barrio Libre and New Pascua communities of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Tucson Arizona. She is passionate about braiding traditional ecological knowledge with sustainability science, and advocacy to ensure that Indigenous values remain central to protecting the Bwiam Ania (Earth).

Laylalanai is an undergraduate student at the University of Arizona studying Environmental Science with an emphasis on soil, air, and water. Once she achieves her degree she aims to work with Indigenous and marginalized communities on Environmental issues and sustainable solutions.
She also serves as a 2025-2026 Earth Ambassador for the United National Indian Tribal Youth organization (UNITY). Her UNITY platform is Reviving Traditional Ecological Knowledge Through Intergenerational Action. Laylalanai has interned for the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals where she created a Climate Change and Natural Resources Needs Assessment for a Northern CA Tribal Community, and has collaborated with Maya communities in Belize from the reef to the rainforest on conservation and sustainability project proposals.

Through community based work, meaningful collaborations and the teachings of her elders she aims to strengthen intergenerational learning, promote environmental stewardship, increase resilience, and ensure that Indigenous cultural and traditional teachings are practiced within our current and future generations.