In March, Model United Nations Indigenous (MUNI), founded by Nathan Balk-King, sent a delegation to the National High School United Nations conference, the largest such gathering in the world. An important goal of MUNI is to offer training to Indigenous young people in diplomacy, human rights, and public policy. For more on Balk-King, see the 2022–2023 Special College Issue of Winds of Change.
The role Dr. Katrina Claw has assumed in supporting early-career scientists while drawing on her Indigenous roots was spotlighted in an online profile by the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Claw is an assistant professor at the school, where she leads an all-female, largely Indigenous research lab.
Dr. Joseph Connolly was one of the Indigenous professionals at the 2023 AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) Science and Technology Forum in January. Dr. Connolly is an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center.
The album “MoonStrike,” by Chickasaw artist Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and narrated by Dr. John Herrington, debuted at Carnegie Hall in March. The first tribally enrolled NASA astronaut, Dr. Herrington is a former member of the AISES Board of Directors. Both Tate and Dr. Herrington are in the Chickasaw Hall of Fame.
Dr. Tiffany Smith, AISES director of research and career support, spoke at the University of Arkansas College of Engineering as part of the school’s observance of Native American Heritage Month. Her topic was Indigenous student experiences in undergraduate engineering programs at four-year institutions.
Dr. Serra Hoagland and Laurel James are included in the new book Women in Wildlife Science: Building Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Dr. Hoagland, winner of the 2020 AISES Most Promising Engineer or Scientist Professional Award, is the only Native woman with a PhD to be employed by the U.S. Forest Service, where she works in natural resource management and research. James is the director of programs at the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society and a member of the Winds of Change Editorial Advisory Council.
Council of Elders member Steve Darden presented “Diné/Navajo Stories About Death, the Afterlife, Grief, and Renewal” for the University of New Mexico Institute for American Indian Research. Darden was named a Henry Luce Foundation Indigenous Knowledge Fellow in 2021 for his commitment to sharing Indigenous knowledge and preserving it for future generations.
AISES CEO Sarah EchoHawk was profiled in Red, the publication of Metropolitan State University in Denver. An alumna, EchoHawk majored in political science and was the first person to graduate with a minor in Native American Studies. She credits her time at the school with showing her the importance of finding mentors and a sense of community on campus.
Dr. Mae Hey was profiled on the Virgina Tech website for her work coordinating the campus Indigenous Friendship Garden, where she models land-centered teaching. Dr. Hey is an assistant professor of history and American Indian studies at the school.
UBC Okanagan News, at the University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus, profiled Jordyn Cates for a story on the school’s Indigenous Research Mentorship Program. Through the program Cates was able to attend the 2019 AISES in Canada National Gathering in Montreal and was inspired to co-found the College Chapter at UBC Okanagan. For more on Cates, see her profile in AISES People.
Dr. Crystal Tully-Cordova was interviewed by the Center for Public Integrity on the subject of drought and water access issues. The principal hydrologist for the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources, Dr. Tully-Cordova received the AISES Professional of the Year Award in 2021.
A broadcast feature on KSEN radio in Shelby, Mont., highlighted the success of Stephanann Costello in the Oral Research presentations at the 2022 National Conference. She is a fifth-year PhD student at Montana State University. For more on Costello, see her profile in AISES People.
Sequoyah Fellow and Corporate Advisory Council member Tara Astigarraga was profiled on uspto.gov, the website of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Astigarraga, a distinguished engineer at IBM Systems Group, was granted her first patent in 2008 and has since been named on 80 — and counting. She won the AISES Technical Excellence Professional Award in 2016.
University of Oklahoma sophomore Max Sasser was profiled in the Cherokee Phoenix. Sasser, an aspiring meteorologist, is a recipient of the school’s National Scholarship.
Raven Longwolf Alcott was profiled on the News page of the University of New Mexico online Newsroom. A member of the Pueblo of San Ildefonso, she is a fifth-year senior majoring in environmental science. Currently Alcott is co-president of the AISES College Chapter and is also active in UNM Leaders for Environmental Action and Foresight.
AISES Leadership Summit Rising Leader Zariah June participated in a day of commemorating the cultural significance of the Alpine Science Institute at Central Wyoming College. June was an Aidinger Fellow at the college, where she is a member of the Tribal Wisdom Society.
Council of Elders emerita member Dr. Henrietta Mann is pictured on the cover of Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America, a new book by Matika Wilbur. The 416-page volume, published this April by Ten Speed Press, is a photographic and narrative account of contemporary Native people.
Dr. Kathy DeerInWater has been featured as a Comcast Newsmaker, an initiative that presents short-form, issue-based conversations with leaders who are advancing America’s communities. Dr. DeerInWater, AISES vice president of programs and research, discussed strategies that support success for Indigenous students and professionals in STEM.
Dr. Angela Teeple was profiled last fall in the article “Nuclear Engineer Self-Funds Water Testing on Tribal Lands” in the Record Eagle of Traverse City, Mich. Dr. Teeple was honored with the 2022 AISES Most Promising Engineer or Scientist Professional Award.
Photos: Nathan Balk-King (Muni); David Cournoyer (Tully-Cordova)
Living Legacy:Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte
This column celebrates pioneering Indigenous people in STEM who helped establish a heritage of accomplishment, perseverance, and service. In this issue we meet Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte, 1865–1915, the first Indigenous woman physician, who spent her career addressing inequities in health care.
In the 1870s when Susan La Flesche Picotte was a little girl on the Omaha Reservation in Nebraska, she saw how devastating the consequences could be when a doctor couldn’t be found. Determined, she left her community to study medicine at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, where she graduated a year early and at the top of her class in 1889. Among her other firsts, she was the first person to receive federal aid for her professional education. She passed up opportunities to practice in the East, opting instead to return to serve her community and the nearby Winnebago Tribe — a practice that covered some 400 miles and more than 1,200 people. As part of her advocacy for health care and wellness, she successfully lobbied the Office of Indian Affairs to keep alcohol out of stores on the reservation. She also opened the first privately funded hospital on a reservation, which today is a museum dedicated to her work and the history of the Omaha and Winnebago Tribes.