The Closing Ceremony of the National Conference provides an opportunity to recognize and thank outgoing members of the AISES Board of Directors, and to welcome incoming members. This year Rick Stephens, board chair emeritus, recognized and thanked two departing board members, Barney “BJ” Enos and Shaun Tsabetsaye, for their contributions and continued support.
Bringing their own fresh perspectives to the board are the following new members:
Dr. Grace Bulltail, Crow, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara, is an assistant professor at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Kristina J. Halona, Navajo, is a systems engineering program manager at the Antares Rocket Program at Northrop Grumman.
Dr. Adrienne D. Laverdure, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, practices family medicine at Ascension Health in Wisconsin.
Dr. Traci L. Morris, Chickasaw Nation, is the director of the American Indian Policy Institute at Arizona State University.
McKalee Steen, Cherokee Nation, a student at the University of California, Berkeley, is the newly elected Junior U.S. Student Representative.
2020–2023 AISES BOARD OF DIRECTORS
You can read more about the members of the 2020–2023 AISES Board of Directors, listed below, at aises.org/about/board.
Chair — Gary Burnette, IBM Corporation
Vice Chair — Michael Laverdure, DSGW Architects
Emeritus Chair — Rick Stephens, retired Boeing executive
Secretary — Amber Finley, Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College
Treasurer — Dr. Grace Bulltail, University of Wisconsin–Madison
General Member — Deanna Burgart, University of Calgary
General Member — Andrea Delgado-Olson, AnitaB.org
Associate Member — Jodi DiLascio, BMM Testlabs
General Member — Kristina J. Halona, Northrop Grumman
General Member — Dr. Adrienne Laverdure, Ascension Health
General Member — Dr. Traci L. Morris, Arizona State University
General Member — Dr. Wendy F. Smythe, University of Minnesota Duluth
General Member — William Tiger, retired GM executive
THE PRE-COLLEGE STUDENT RESEARCH PRESENTATION COMPETITION is sponsored by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Honorable Mention: Cade Kane, Native Hawaiian
Third Place: Joshua Parker, Native Hawaiian
Second Place: Dakota Kaupu, Native Hawaiian
First Place: Taylor Moniz, Native Hawaiian
The Boeing Company generously awarded laptop computers to the following precollege presenters:
Dakota Kaupu and Cade Kane from Kamehameha School
THE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH COMPETITION is sponsored by the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership (SIGP), a collaboration between the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and nine institutions (University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Arizona, University of Montana, Montana State University, Montana Tech, Purdue University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and University of North Carolina Asheville) to increase the number of Indigenous graduate students in STEM disciplines. Read more at sloanphds.org.
UNDERGRADUATE POSTER RESEARCH PRESENTATION WINNERS
Honorable Mention: Tyara Marchand
Third Place: Dawson Hollingsworth
Second Place: Keona Hosteen
First Place: Meredith Dennis
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT ORAL RESEARCH PRESENTATION WINNERS
Honorable Mention: Durante Pioche-Lee
Third Place: Brook Thompson
Second Place: Anna Quinlan
First Place: Anna Grondolsky
GRADUATE STUDENT POSTER RESEARCH PRESENTATION WINNERS
Honorable Mention: Dani Nowasad
Third Place: Adam Rogers
Second Place: Michael Charles
First Place: Naomi Niyah
GRADUATE STUDENT ORAL RESEARCH PRESENTATION WINNERS
Third Place: Blake MacQueen
Second Place: Samantha Hilborn
First Place: Brendan DavidJohn
▸ HEARD AT THE CONFERENCE
I’m so proud of my students and grateful to AISES for giving them the opportunity to present at this conference! My four students all won something in the pre-college competition! Plus, my student from last year won first in undergrad presentations. I’m so proud of them!
— Gail Ishimoto
