Field Notes

The Roots (and Grains) of Native Health

High school students participating in a Navajo Technical University STEM program help prepare a diabetic-friendly meal.

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Is NIFA Being Put Out to Pasture?

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture supports research at tribal colleges and other land grant universities. The Trump administration is relocating it to Kansas City. Some wonder if the agency will survive the move.

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Alaska Slashes Funding for State University System

A 40 percent cut in state support could disproportionately affect programs serving Alaska Natives

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Building a Pipeline for Native Hawaiian Students

The University of Hawaii-West O’ahu receives $2.5 million for development of STEM programs and student support

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Latest News

NSF webinar to focus on broadening participation in STEM. The National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) is hosting a free webinar on September 30, 2020. Program officers and staff will highlight current funding opportunities available in EHR focused on diversifying the STEM workforce, supporting broadening participation in STEM research, and promoting equitable STEM practices and opportunities. NSF representatives from all four divisions in EHR will be represented. Principal Investigators, faculty, administrators, researchers, evaluators, and other STEM and education professionals and community-based leaders interested or engaged in research and efforts to broaden participation in STEM are encouraged to attend. [NSF]

Online Remote Sensing on Indigenous Lands course. NASA’s Indigenous Peoples Capacity Building Initiative, in partnership with United Tribes Technical College’s Intertribal Research and Resource Center, will host an all-virtual Introduction to Remote Sensing on Indigenous Lands course, October 6-29. Each module will be presented with lectures and hands-on lab exercises. Continuing education credits are available. Click link above for details and registration. [UTTC]

David Gipp, long serving president of United Tribes Technical College, dies at 74. A member of the Standing Rock Tribe, Gipp was the first executive director of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium in the early 1970s. He then served as president of United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, ND for 38 years, guiding its growth from a vocational training center into an accredited, STEM-focused institution that now enrolls students from more than 75 federally recognized tribes. Native Science Report mourns the passing of a tireless leader.

NSF seeks input on strategic plan. The National Science Foundation is soliciting input related to the implementation of the Federal STEM Education Strategic Plan, Charting a Course For Success: America’s Strategy for STEM Education. Institutions and individuals are invited to address one or more of the plan’s identified funding and policy priorities. Information gathered from this request may be used to guide future Federal STEM education resource development. Interested persons are invited to submit comments by October 19, 2020.

Webinar training for NSF-NEH language program grant proposals. A series of webinars will be held for Native American linguists and language practitioners, especially those based at Native American institutions, interested in submitting grant proposals to the joint NSF-NEH Dynamic Linguistic Infrastructure/Documenting Endangered Languages (DLI-DEL) program. Five weekly sessions, beginning September 8, will include discussions with tribal citizens, linguists and indigenous linguists with experience preparing, reviewing, and managing these awards. Recordings of the presentations and panel discussions will be posted after the series is complete. Click link above to register. For solicitation and due dates: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20603/nsf20603.htm

The Flathead Nation’s Federal Reserved Water Rights Compact reaches the full Senate. First introduced in the Montana Legislature in 2013, the legislation moved one step closer to a vote in Washington. If passed into law, the Montana Water Rights Protection Act “will provide critical water infrastructure projects, create jobs, restore our fisheries and water quality, grow the economy, and enhance the Reservation’s natural landscape and ecosystem,” said tribal Chairwoman Shelly R. Fyant. [Char-Koosta News]

Tribal college community mourns the passing of Sherri McDonald. Married to Joe McDonald, the founding and long-serving president of Salish Kootenai College, Sherri is remembered for her “warmth, compassion, and deep concern for others,” writes Native Science Report Editor Paul Boyer in a testimonial published in the Tribal College Journal. [TCJ]

Dr. Jeremy Guinn to serve as NSF-TCUP program officer. The National Science Foundation announced that Dr. Jeremy Guinn will serve as program officer for the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) and the Education Core Research (ECR) program. Program Officers/Directors are responsible for managing funding programs and working with awardees throughout the life of the award. This position will allow Guinn, who previously served on the faculty at United Tribes Technical College, to work closely with tribal college STEM leaders, learn processes and opportunities at the NSF, and help strengthen TCUP programs for tribal communities.

NSF extends deadline for TEA Center proposals. The National Science Foundation’s Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (NSF-TCUP) is extending the deadline for submission of Tribal Enterprise Advancement Centers (TEA Centers) until September 28, 2020 in response to campus closures caused by Covid-19.

Major expansion of National Science Foundation proposed. Bills introduced into both houses of Congress would create a new technology directorate within the NSF and provide an additional $100 billion in funding over five years. The proposal appears to have bipartisan support, but is receiving a mixed response from science leaders. Increased funding for the agency–which would be renamed the National Science and Technology Foundation–is welcomed, but some worry that it would shift the agency’s focus away from basic research. [Science/AAAS]

American Indian College Fund releases new report on strengthening the Native health workforce. Recommendations, based on a 2019 roundtable convened by the College Fund, focus on building partnerships between tribal colleges, k-12 schools, and mainstream universities; removing barriers to health program accreditation; and investing in wellness centers and food sovereignty programs. [American Indian College Fund]

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Trends in STEM Research and Teaching at Tribal and Native-Serving Colleges

Field Notes

The Roots (and Grains) of Native Health

High school students participating in a Navajo Technical University STEM program help prepare a diabetic-friendly meal.

Is NIFA Being Put Out to Pasture?

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture supports research at tribal colleges and other land grant universities. The Trump administration is relocating it to Kansas City. Some wonder if the agency will survive the move.

Alaska Slashes Funding for State University System

A 40 percent cut in state support could disproportionately affect programs serving Alaska Natives

Science in the Summer

For tribal college faculty, summer is a time for research, teaching, and workshops. Also gardening, road trips, and fishing.

Building a Pipeline for Native Hawaiian Students

The University of Hawaii-West O’ahu receives $2.5 million for development of STEM programs and student support

Are Reservations Safe?

Thinking about the role of science in tribal communities