Dr. Felina Cordova-Marks, a second-year post-doctoral fellow at the University of Arizona Cancer Center focusing on health disparities, was named the 40 Under 40 Woman of the Year for 2020. Last spring she pivoted her research from cancer to the coronavirus. She founded and led the Southern Arizona Urban, Native, and Indigenous COVID-19 Relief effort and organized mask drives for the Hopi Tribe and Gallup Indian Medical Center.
Council of Elders emerita member Dr. Henrietta Mann has been included in the book Native Women Changing Their Worlds by Patricia Cutright. The book, which is part of the Native Trailblazers series for secondary students, includes biographies of 12 women who are creating positive change in their communities.
A four-year, $2 million NSF grant has gone to Dr. Steven Crossley to research polymer recycling technologies. An associate professor at the University of Oklahoma School of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering, he is the faculty advisor for the school’s AISES College Chapter.
Melanie Howard, advisor for the College Chapter at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, is the recipient of the inaugural Principal’s Teaching Award for Indigenous Education. She directs the Aboriginal Access to Engineering Initiative in the school’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.
Brielle Chanae Thorsen has been named the 2020 recipient of the Order of the White Rose Scholarship. The award was instituted on the 25th anniversary of a 1989 mass shooting at the Polytechnique Montréal, one of Canada’s largest engineering schools, where the gunman targeted only women. The White Rose Scholarship goes to a female graduate engineering student in remembrance of the 14 women killed and 11 injured. Thorsen, who is the first Indigenous woman chosen for the $30,000 scholarship, earned her BASc at Queen’s University in Ontario, where she is pursuing a master’s in mechanical engineering. She served as the first AISES Canadian National Student Representative. For more on Thorsen, see the 2018 Special College Issue of Winds of Change.
In December Tristan Picotte became the 50th graduate of the NSF-funded Tiospaye Scholar Program at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Picotte, who earned his BS in electrical engineering and served as president of the school’s AISES College Chapter, interned at IBM, where he accepted a job offer.
Bianca Hanly of Scottsdale, Ariz., was named to the 2020 All Native American High School Academic Team. The honor is bestowed annually on 10 high school seniors by the American Indian Graduate Center. Now a freshman at MIT, Hanly is studying electrical engineering.
Matthew Dunn was honored with the 2020 McCannel Award, which recognizes service to the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan and to the professions as a whole. He is the indigenization and reconciliation coordinator at the University of Saskatchewan and co-president of the Saskatchewan Professional Chapter.
The MIT College Chapter has worked with MLK Visiting Scholar Patricia Saulis to raise awareness of the challenges facing Indigenous students. The chapter also led the campus campaign to change the school’s Columbus Day observance to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. MIT’s president announced the change last fall, in time for the holiday. The MIT College Chapter also participated with other student groups in the school’s inaugural Get Out the Vote (GOTV) festival last October, where all speakers and performers were people of color.
Marking Native American Heritage Month, the North Dakota State University publication The Spectrum cited campus resources for Indigenous students, notably the NDSU College Chapter. Chapter president Isnala Roan Eagle was quoted explaining the AISES mission.
The Lake Erie Professional Chapter was mentioned in coverage by local and national news outlets, including Sports Illustrated, for its role as part of the Cleveland Indigenous Coalition in working with the city’s Major League Baseball franchise to change the team’s name. The intention to begin the process to rebrand the team with a “non–Native American based name” was announced in December.
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.