▸ Inside AISES

The Education Committee Regroups

This year Andrea Delgado-Olson and Deanna Burgart relaunched the Education Committee, which was founded more than a decade ago to focus on STEM education for pre-college (K–12) students. Both committee officers are experienced educators. Delgado-Olson, Ione Band of Miwok Indians, taught for nearly 20 years before shifting to computer science to support communities in the digital space. She is the founder of the Indigenous Perspectives for Reconciliation Resources Consulting Group and Native American Women in Computing. Burgart, a Cree-Dene member of the Fond du Lac First Nation, is the founder of Indigenous Engineering Inclusion and IndigeSTEAM, and a senior instructor at the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering.

Andrea Delgado-Olsen and Deanna Burgart; the newly re-formed Education Committee at a recent virtual meeting.

COURTESY IMAGES

Both were recently appointed to the AISES Board of Directors, and are now looking to build a team of “champion members” to work with them on the Education Committee. There are currently 25 members refining the group’s objectives. So far among the committee’s goals are developing culturally relevant curricula rooted in Indigenous knowledge, promoting educational opportunities for Indigenous students, and supporting educational institutions and community outreach organizations for young people.

With the growth of more .caISES chapters in Canada — and increased First Nations, Métis, and Inuit membership — the committee will also be expanding its activity and connections in those areas. The committee meets three times a year, and new member inquiries are welcome. To find out more, contact dburgart@indigeneering.com.

▸ Member News

LARKIN PODSIEDLIK

➜ Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer told her story “Corn Tastes Better on the Honor System” on the Emergence Magazine podcast. Winner of the 2016 Ely S. Parker Award, the highest AISES honor, Dr. Kimmerer is a best-selling author and distinguished teaching professor at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, where she directs the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.

➜ Ohio State University PhD candidate Michael Charles, pictured, was interviewed for an article posted on Cleveland.com on the injustice behind “land grant” universities. The Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862 took nearly 11 million acres around the country from 250 tribes by force or unfair treaties and created public universities, like Ohio State. The current movement to recognize and remedy racial injustice is encouraging people like Charles to urge schools to acknowledge their history and become better allies for their Native students.

➜ Council of Elders charter member Dr. Henrietta Mann was interviewed for a feature on Colorado Public Radio: “CSU’s Morrill Act Origin Is a Generational Wealth Built Off of Indigenous Lands.” The piece reports on an investigation by High Country News of how Morrill Act funding, acquired through the sale of Indigenous lands, was instrumental in establishing “land grant” universities, like Colorado State University.

➜ AISES CEO Sarah EchoHawk was invited to participate in a 2020 Virtual Prosperity Summit session focused on asset building in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Among other topics, EchoHawk spoke about culturally appropriate adjustments AISES has made to the Wells Fargo Hands on Banking program (offered as the AISES Native Financial Cents program). Wells Fargo is an Emerald Sponsor of the Prosperity Summit.

▸ Member News

2020 US CENSUS VIDEO STILL

➜ Montoya Whiteman appeared in a public service announcement for the U.S. Census, reminding Indigenous people of the many reasons it’s important to be counted. She also mentioned AISES, where she is the senior director of marketing.

➜ Dr. Evelyn Galban was featured in an article in JAVMA (the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association) on professionals from underrepresented backgrounds creating a space for themselves in the field. Dr. Galban is an associate professor of clinical neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. She started the Native American Veterinary Association to provide support and mentoring for Indigenous students and professionals.

➜ Board of Directors member Kristina Halona, pictured, participated on a panel discussing DEI in the aerospace workforce during a webinar hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). See “AISES Collaborates on DEI Webinar for AIAA” in AISES News. Halona is a program manager for Antares Systems Engineering at Northrop Grumman.

➜ “Indigenizing Science and Reasserting Indigeneity in Research,” a session at the 2019 AISES National Conference, has fulfilled its promise of becoming the foundation of a special issue of the journal Human Biology. Session presenters and guest co-editors of the issue, which focuses on Indigenous knowledge and approaches, are Dr. Katrina Claw, a geneticist at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and Krystal Tsosie, a geneticist and doctoral researcher at Vanderbilt University.

➜ An early member of AISES and lifelong supporter of science education, Floy Agnes “Aggie” Lee, was featured in the article “The Diversity and Greatness of Manhattan Project Alumni” in Inside Science. “Manhattan Project” was the World War II code name for the Allies’ secret attempt to develop an atomic weapon. Upon earning a BS in biology, Dr. Lee worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she drew blood from researchers to check radiation levels (and consistently beat Enrico Fermi at tennis). After the war she worked at Argonne National Laboratory and earned a doctorate in zoology. She went on to study the effects of radiation on living cells.

▸ AISES News

▸ AISES Earns GuideStar Recognition

AISES has earned the highest level of recognition conferred by the leader in online information on nonprofit organizations. GuideStar, a service of Candid, granted AISES the 2020 Seal of Transparency. Upgrading the organization’s GuideStar Nonprofit Profile to the Platinum level showcases the user-friendly metrics about progress toward its mission that AISES offers members, sponsors, and donors.

▸ AISES Collaborates on DEI Webinar for AIAA

The topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the field of aerospace was the focus of a two-part ASCENDxWebinar, billed as a space ecosystem event from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). In developing the session, which was held in July, AISES collaborated with the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and the Society of Women Engineers.

▸ In Remembrance

Dr. Iona Black

The AISES family is mourning the passing of Sequoyah Fellow Dr. Iona Black, who died in August. Dr. Black served AISES in many ways; she was a member of the Board of Directors for two terms and participated on the Academic Advisory, Professional Awards Selection, and Education Committees. A physical chemist whose research touched on Indigenous medicine, anticancer and antiviral compounds, and clean water, Dr. Black was also a longtime teacher. She mentored and nurtured countless students at Yale University, where she directed the Science, Technology, and Research Scholars (STARS) program, and Yale School of Medicine, where she taught in the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (now the Summer Health Professions Education Program). While at Yale she was honored with the prestigious Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Advising by the National Academic Advising Association. Dr. Black most recently taught at James Madison University. She was especially invested in promoting diversity and inclusion in the sciences for underrepresented students. At AISES we will miss Dr. Black, her intelligence, and her passion.

2020 National Conference Goes Virtual

Every AISES National Conference is memorable, and the 2020 gathering is no exception. Already planned as a hybrid, the conference became an all-virtual event when it became clear in conversations with the host state of Washington that it would be impossible to predict reopening progress. The AISES staff arranged for virtual attendees to participate in popular conference activities — including networking suites, ceremonies, sessions for all tracks, and the largest College and Career Fair in Indian Country — on a robust virtual platform that gives the AISES family a safe way to connect and learn.

DON’T BE SHY!

Do you or a member you know have a new academic degree, promotion, or award? Newly published book or paper? Let us share the good news — just email Winds of Change editor kenglish@aises.org.