▸ 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.

▸ Chapter News

ISTOCK

➜ The Three Fires College Chapter at Central Michigan University was cited in an article in the Detroit Free Press for its role in providing Native American programming. The topic of the article was the school’s “Chippewas” nickname and the partnership between the school and the local Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, which works with school administrators and students, especially athletes, to be sure the name and imagery are used appropriately and as a platform for educational outreach.

➜ The Lake Erie Professional Chapter joined other members of the Cleveland Indigenous Coalition as well as corporations and faith-based and diversity organizations in urging the city’s Major League Baseball team to change the franchise team name and logo. The coalition’s statement pointed out that “these portrayals erase us from modern times, foster bias, and perpetuate racism. Like the Washington, D.C., NFL franchise, the Cleveland team issued a statement saying it is considering a name and logo change.

➜ In June the College Chapter at Stanford University joined the campus organizations signing in solidarity a letter from the Black student and postdoc community members to the president and provost listing action items for achieving racial equity.

➜ The University of Oklahoma College Chapter participated in a Black Lives Matter t-shirt fundraiser to benefit multicultural campus organizations, with most of the proceeds from this effort going to the Black Student Association.

➜ The Puget Sound AISES Professional Chapter partnered with the Lower Columbia/Willamette River AISES Professional Chapter to provide and transport essential items to the Navajo Reservation. For more on this effort, click here.

▸ Accolades, Achievements, and Milestones

SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC (CROTTY)

➜ Brendan Crotty has won third place and a prize of $150,000 in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search 2020 conducted by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. For the first time in the 78-year history, this year’s competition was virtual. Crotty’s winning project is an efficient hybrid gas burner that took him three years to perfect. He is now a freshman at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, pursuing a degree in metallurgical engineering. Ultimately, he plans to earn an MBA and start a business developing environmentally friendly pollution reduction systems for manufacturing industries.

COURTESY OF BROOK THOMPSON

➜ Former Region 1 representative Brook Thompson, pictured, has been recognized as one of UNITY’s 25 Under 25 Native Youth Leaders. The program recognizes 25 American Indian and Alaska Native young people who are demonstrating a passion for serving their community.

➜ Dr. Lani Tsinnajinnie, an assistant professor in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of New Mexico, was selected for a 2020 UNM Women in STEM Award.

➜ Madison Deese has received the Phyllis G. Meekins Scholarship from the LPGA Foundation. The scholarship goes to a minority high school senior who plans a full-time course of college study while playing golf at the collegiate level. Deese qualified twice for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Women’s Golf State Championship and three times for the Women’s Golf Regionals. She plans to major in chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and eventually to earn a doctorate in pharmacy.

➜ Kimball Sekaquaptewa was honored with a Women in Technology Award from the New Mexico Technology Council. She is the chief technology director at Santa Fe Indian School.

➜ Liam Puls, a junior at the Oklahoma School of Innovation and Experiential Learning last year, won first place in the 2020 Congressional Art Competition for High School Students. His piece Serve to Inspire will hang in the U.S. Capitol for a full year. Liam also took home a Senior Division Award at the 2020 National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair (NAISEF). For more on Liam, see AISES People.

AISES Circle Partners

The generosity of our Full Circle of Support (FCS) Partners and Circle of Support Partners is integral to the AISES mission. FCS Partners are organizations that have established a multiprogram partnership with AISES for three or more years, while Circle of Support Partners assist in funding a diverse range of programs and events in the STEM fields. We wish to thank each for their continued effort to serve AISES student and professional members.

▸ Circle of Support

▸ Full Circle of Support

▸ 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.

▸ 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.