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Jai Varun Indra is a dual-degree student at Northwestern University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Environmental Sciences alongside a B.S. in Education and Social Policy (Class of 2027). Based in Evanston, Illinois, Jai works at the intersection of investigative data journalism, community-based research, and environmental justice advocacy.
At the Medill Investigative Lab, Jai has conducted data-driven reporting on social and environmental issues in Chicago, building GIS maps and interactive graphics to make complex datasets accessible to public audiences. As a data collector and undergraduate research assistant with Indigenous STEAM at Northwestern, Jai supports Indigenous-led science education programs grounded in land and water-based knowledge systems, applying Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession (OCAP) and Collective, Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics (CARE) principles for Indigenous data governance in his work.
Jai's research practice is guided by the Anishinaaben Seven Grandfather Teachings — Wisdom, Love, Respect, Bravery, Honesty, Humility, and Truth — and by a commitment to research that is anti-colonial, relational, and accountable to community rather than extractive.
While these concepts and values are reflected within Jai's own cultures, much of his work is largely informed by Ojibwe teachings and principles, as well as Native American mentors and community at the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research at Northwestern University.
I align my work with the Ojibwe concept of biskaabiiyang — “returning to ourselves” — by acknowledging the specific intellectual genealogies (As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom through Radical Resistance, Leanne Simpson, 2017) that create the ethical mandate for me to pursue knowledge with the goal of helping people overcome historical inequalities, with a specific focus on those created by colonialism.
— Jai Indra, Researcher Statement, 2025