James Rattling Leaf, Sr. is the coordinator of Climate Partnerships for the Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance and Principal, Rattling Leaf Consulting LLC in Black Hawk, South Dakota. A member of South Dakota's Rosebud Sioux tribe, James has served as a Visiting Collaborator, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Director, Geo-Spatial Applications Center, Sinte Gleska University; Board Member, Education Committee, American Geophysical Union (AGU); Fellow, International Indigenous Resource Management Institute, Denver; Cultural Advisory Board Member, Deep Underground Science and Engineering Lab; Board of Directors, South Dakota National Science Foundation EpSCOR; Member, NASA Space Grant Consortium EpSCOR Technical Advisory Committee; and Cultural Advisor, NOAA National Integrated Drought Information Systems (NIDIS). James received his B.A. in Lakota Studies from Sinte Gleska University (Rosebud Reservation, Mission, South Dakota).