Leadership in the world of STEM and beyond
The Boeing Company
Liaison Engineer
Larger than 10 of the 50 United States, the Navajo Nation encompasses 27,000 square miles and extends into Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. More than 250,000 people make their home on the Navajo Nation.
CHRIS GREENSTONE’S FAMILY moved around quite a lot when he was growing up — Sitka, Alaska; Gallup, N.M.; and Phoenix and Bitter Springs, Ariz.; among other places. But of all those moves, Greenstone calls Bitter Springs home. His family has lived in this small village on the Navajo Nation for many generations.
For most of his life, Greenstone was raised in a single-parent household. “I saw my mom go through a lot raising my four siblings and me on her own,” he says. “She worked multiple jobs and sold jewelry on the roadside so that we had food in our stomachs, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our heads.” Greenstone recalls that she never gave up and put every hour in her day to use. “She’s the largest influence on my path, and her actions taught me to finish what I start no matter the circumstance,” he says.
Another important influence has been his older brother Jeremy. “He’s a hard worker,” says Greenstone. “He works long hours at his job site and takes on many roles with a positive attitude. He goes home every day to his wife and daughter, and he’s the best male role model I could ever ask for.”
When Greenstone was in high school, many of his peers planned to go into a trade or join the military. He strongly considered those choices as well, because he didn’t see anyone close to him go to college and graduate with a four-year degree. “I thought college was farfetched,” he recalls. “I always wanted to become an engineer, but I didn’t think it was possible at the time.”
But Greenstone did try some courses at Coconino Community College to see if going for a degree was for him. He finished his first year strong and went on to earn an associate of science degree. “My mom always told me to keep going and see where education would take me,” he says. “But I did not think attending a university would be possible, given the low-income circumstances I grew up with.”
Still, Greenstone transferred to Northern Arizona University and majored in mechanical engineering. “I wanted to work with something that involved technical knowledge, math, and science,” he says. “I viewed any engineering field as challenging, and I wanted to take up the challenge and finish something I had a strong desire to complete, despite my circumstances.”
“I thought college was farfetched,” Greenstone recalls. “I always wanted to become an engineer, but I didn’t think it was possible at the time.”
Just staying in college was a challenge in itself. Greenstone says there were times when he didn’t have a roof over his head or even regular meals. “My car broke down multiple times and I had to figure out how to fix it,” he recalls. “Then I looked at my little sister, nephews, and nieces, and I realized that they need a new role model to finish college with a four-year degree. I had to show them that it’s possible to finish. I had to show them that anyone could do it — no matter the circumstances.”
He also got a boost from his involvement in AISES and served as a Regional Student Representative, and his coursework and teachers kept him going. “A dynamics course gave me the extra push to learn and apply knowledge that pertains to my field,” he says. “Also, the professor gave a speech about how we will someday achieve what we want and we won’t have to worry as much financially once we graduate. I give that credit to Dr. Zachary Lerner.”
It was an AISES conference that inspired Greenstone to pursue his professional path. “I became interested in aircraft engineering when I attended my first AISES National Conference in Minneapolis in 2016,” he says. “I saw companies like GE Aviation and The Boeing Company at the Career Fair, and I knew from there that I want to work with aircraft. I am now transitioning to the role of liaison engineer at The Boeing Company.”
—Kyle Coulon
Oregon State University
Natural Resources and Fisheries Management
Part of the Coast Salish Confederacy, the Squaxin Island Tribe is at home among the inlets of Washington State’s southern Puget Sound. Historically, the tribe was known as the “People of the Water.”
BY THE AGE OF SIX Joseph Peters had spent countless hours on his father’s salmon fishing boat and knew he was meant to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors. Members of his Squaxin Island Tribe are descendants of people who for millennia lived on the shores and watersheds of Puget Sound, and Peters wants to continue the family tradition of working on and with the water. Having recently graduated with a master’s degree in natural resources, Peters feels more prepared than ever to help his tribe in the conservation and sustainable management of their land and water.
Growing up on the west side of Olympia, Wash., Peters and his family — his mother, father, and two younger brothers — lived right on the water. “I had the southernmost inlet of Puget Sound as my backyard,” says Peters. Because they also lived just a 10-minute drive from the Squaxin Island Indian Reservation, Peters found himself living in close proximity to his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Peters consistently drew on the support of his family to pursue an education and his dreams. One second cousin took an especially strong interest in Peters and his studies. “My second cousin, Roger, has a PhD and is a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” says Peters. “I received a lot of support and encouragement from him, and Roger has always been a person I’ve looked up to as a role model in the field.”
With such strong support, it was no surprise that by high school Peters was set on working in natural resources for his tribe, and knew exactly how he was going to get there. “I focused on a high school curriculum to prepare me for college,” he says, “taking the needed math and science courses.” Peters also engaged in extracurriculars that would help him achieve his goals: “In Boy Scouts and high school sports I learned how to be goal oriented and build the leadership skills I needed to be successful.” His dedication and perseverance paid off, as he went on to earn his bachelor’s in environmental science at Evergreen State University.
Peters consistently drew on the support of his family to pursue an education and his dreams.
About a year before graduating, Peters began working for his tribe as a fisheries technician. A year later, he was promoted to fish biologist/harvest manager. More recently, he was promoted to the role of natural resources policy representative. With this new role, Peters knew the timing was right for him to pursue an advanced degree, something he had always wanted to do but hadn’t been able to afford. “I didn’t want to take out large loans to attend grad school,” says Peters. But his prospects changed about three years ago when his tribe began providing funding for grad school.
With this funding, Peters was able to enroll in a fully online master’s program at Oregon State University. “This online program allowed me to keep my job and not be uprooted,” says Peters. “I was able to stay home and be with my family, and to participate in my treaty rights of fishing and hunting.”
But graduate school wasn’t without its challenges. “The largest challenge for me was balancing work, family, and school,” says Peters. He found it difficult to manage class work without feeling guilty about shortchanging family time, and vice versa. “It took me about a year to find that balance,” says Peters, “but still stress and anxiety presented themselves throughout my studies.”
While Peters continued to lean on his immediate family for strength and support, he also connected with other Native students around the country who were pursuing his program. Peters found that those students could relate to the issues he and his tribe were dealing with, but he knows that it was really the support of his family that got him through tough times. “Coming from a supportive family has been a major part of my success,” says Peters. “My wife and my kids are my largest supporters, and I had overwhelming support from my siblings and parents.”
In June 2019, Peters graduated from Oregon State University with a master’s in natural resources and a certificate in fisheries management. He is excited to continue his work as the natural resources policy representative for the Squaxin Island Tribe, and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. “One day I would love to be the director,” says Peters. “I believe I have a responsibility as a tribal member to work for my tribe to sustainably manage and protect our natural resources.”
Peters tells his story to encourage others to pursue their own goals. “I hope that what I have done academically inspires our youth that they too can get a college education and pursue their dreams,” he says. When times get tough or Peters needs a little extra motivation, he recalls what his late friend and tribal leader Billy Frank Jr. used to tell him: “Stay the course, tell your truth, and tell your story.” Peters has done all three.
—Alexa Panza
University of Utah
Chemistry and Biology
For thousands of years the A:shiwi (traditional name for Zuni people) have inhabited lands in western New Mexico, where Zuni traditions, language, religion, and art make the past an important part of the present.
DOMINIQUE PABLITO GREW UP in the small town of Aneth, Utah, on the Navajo Nation, and in New Mexico on the Zuni Reservation. She lived in a four-bedroom house with 13 family members, sharing a bedroom with her mother and brother, and visited relatives for extended stays. “I spent time with my great-grandmother, whose house had no running water or electricity,” she says. Because her grandparents did not speak English, Pablito learned the Zuni and Navajo languages. Pablito says that her father, an alcoholic, came in and out of her life. “I spent time with his family in the Zuni Pueblo,” she says. “I love the connection that the Zuni have with the land and the spirits of the land.”
With access to math and science courses limited in reservation schools, Pablito convinced her family to move. “We ran out of gas in Saint George, Utah, where I registered for high school even though my family was unable to find housing,” she says. “During my first quarter at my new school, I slept in a 2008 Nissan Xterra with my mother, brother, and grandmother, while I earned straight As, took college courses at Dixie State University, and competed in varsity cross country.”
Pablito met her goal of graduating from high school in three years, racking up honors and college credits. “My mother told me I would have to excel in school to get a scholarship for college,” she says. “When I graduated at 15 with an excellent GPA, having taken college courses at night, and with exceptional ACT and SAT scores, I was sure I would earn the Gates Millennium Scholarship. It wasn’t enough.” To compensate, she applied for 15 scholarships, and was awarded 12, including the Larry H. Miller Enrichment Scholarship, a full ride.
For Pablito, the transition to college life was jarring. “It was the first time I had my own bed in my own bedroom,” she says. “I missed being so close to my Zuni culture. I brought small kachina figurines with me and did my best to decorate my room like my old homes.”
Despite her hard work in high school, Pablito was not prepared for college academics and sought help from tutors, professors, and TAs. “I spent late nights watching tutorials on YouTube,” she recalls. “College retention rates for Indigenous students are exceptionally low, so instead of going home for the summer, I sought out research internships and difficult coursework to keep busy.”
For support, Pablito turned to her grandparents. “Hearing their voices speaking the languages I grew up with helped with my loneliness,” she says.
Academics were not her only challenge. “I started college at 15, and by age 16 I had no parents,” Pablito explains. “My mother was abusive, and we ceased contact. At 17, I was diagnosed with an adrenal tumor, which pushed my strength to its limits. I never felt more alone in my life.”
For support, she turned to her grandparents. “Hearing their voices speaking the languages I grew up with helped with my loneliness,” she says. “My grandfather didn’t allow me to drop out of college.”
Pablito also reached out to Indigenous student groups. “I joined AISES and the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP), which connected me with community elders,” she says. “I tutored. I tutored students in math and science, and assisted in teaching Diné Bizaad (Navajo) to students who had never heard the language. Being a part of these communities has been crucial in my success.”
She also credits her research internships with helping her discover her strengths. “I decided to major in chemistry when I participated in the PathMaker Research Program at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, where I used biochemistry to investigate DNA damage and repair in cancer cells,” Pablito says. “Dr. Srividya Bhaskara guided me through the world of research, helping me earn many awards and grants.”
In the lab Pablito learned the important lesson that failure is inevitable. “I began to think that science wasn’t for me, until I understood that failure is a part of research,” she says. “What matters is how you handle that failure.”
She had a different lab experience during an internship at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. There she used targeted photoactivatable multiinhibitor liposomes to induce site-specific cell damage in various cancer cells. “That’s where my research interest in cancer and molecular biology developed,” she says. “That internship taught me how to effectively present scientific data, and how important community can be for the success of Native students.”
Her interest in medicine stems from her childhood experience with the Indian Health Service. “Many of my elders distrusted going to doctors because most health care providers are white,” she explains. “My great-grandfathers’ illnesses could have been treated much better had they visited a doctor sooner. I will use my medical training to improve the care of elders on my reservation by integrating culture, language, and medicine.”
In addition to earning an MD in family medicine, Pablito plans to earn a PhD in cancer biology, and eventually open a lab on the Zuni Pueblo to expose students to research. “I want to spark an interest in STEM in future generations of Indigenous scholars,” she says. “I want to give them advantages I never had.”
—D.J. Pollard