Noel Lyn Smith

Noel Lyn Smith is a Diné (Navajo) reporter. Her maternal clan is Honágháahnii (One-Walks-Around Clan), and her paternal clan is Hashtł’ishnii (Mud Clan).

Noel’s reporting has focused on all aspects of the Navajo Nation, and her favorite topics include the tribal government and the environment. She has reported about the Gold King Mine spill, water issues, threats to sacred sites, and coal mining, including the tribe’s purchase of the Navajo Mine. She looks forward to expanding her understanding of Indigenous communities while working for Inside Climate News.

Previously, Noel was a staff reporter with the Farmington Daily Times in northwest New Mexico and the Navajo Times in Window Rock, Arizona. Her work has also appeared in ICT, formerly Indian Country Today. In 2023, she earned a master’s in investigative journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Noel is the first recipient of a partnership between the Cronkite School, the Indigenous Journalists Association, and ICT to complete a master’s degree program at Cronkite. Her bachelor’s degree is in journalism from Northern Arizona University.