Dr. Kathy DeerInWater of AISES and Dr. Cheryl Wilga of the University of Rhode Island discussed their personal experiences funding their graduate degrees and offered tips and advice to attendees. Together they discussed fellowships, applying for grants, teaching assistantships, and working as an RA. They emphasized that there are many sources of funding and also that needing funding doesn’t stop with grad school. In fact, grant writing in graduate school is just the beginning — it’s a valuable skill to develop for the rest of your career. Christine O’Brien of Ford Fellowships and the National Academies described Ford Foundation resources and recommended that prospective students visit the Ford Foundation Fellowship page at nationalacademies.org/ford, then click on Helpful Resources for an extensive list of other types of fellowships and support. Apply for as many as you are eligible for. Among the many other sources of funding mentioned were the NSF, grants.gov, the American Indian College Fund, the NIH, and government agencies like the Coast Guard that will fund your education if you take a job with them afterward.
Presenters Brandy Bowe and Phil Sutherin of IBM described the P-TECH apprentice program, which IBM created with the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Now known as the CTA Apprenticeship Coalition, the initiative includes programs at multiple companies. Since 2017 IBM has championed this alternative path to employment, which is growing in popularity. Paid apprenticeships are a high-quality, alternative educational pathway to good jobs. In a nutshell, apprenticeship is about acquiring skills, not earning a degree. Participants earn a paycheck as they learn in-demand industry skills and earn certifications they can take anywhere to fill tech jobs — all without college debt. Presenters pointed out that apprentices come from many walks of life, and the length of the apprenticeship depends on the job. After 12 to 18 months of hands-on application and in-depth mentorship, apprentices come out of the program with experience and credentials in in-demand tech areas. Visit apprenticeship.gov for a list of opportunities.
Presenter Dr. Ryan Wilson from Chevron emphasized the importance of building your sphere of influence, explaining that networking is key. He outlined how to define and develop influence and leadership, and pointed out that growing influence and leadership is among the advantages of publishing your research. He advised attendees to use a growth mindset throughout the process of gaining visibility and marketing themselves in a digital age that depends on practitioners publishing their research. Through social media platforms, researchers can showcase ongoing work and build their reputation as a subject matter expert, while identifying other researchers with similar objectives for collaboration. He encouraged attendees to build a successful publication record for innovation and growing their sphere of influence in the professional community.
Fiat Chrysler First Nations Business Resource Group members Jason Paskvan, Aurora White, Kayla Boggess, Weston Lee, and Kaitlyn Mulkey introduced exciting FCA Group models, including Jeep, Ram, Maserati, Alpha Romeo, and Dodge SRT. They discussed engineering challenges, giving detailed information on government fuel efficiency standards and the progress the company is making. Topics included fuel economy, on-board diagnostics, electrification technologies (spoiler alert: there are big plans for Jeep in this area), cost effectiveness of CO2 technologies, safety and airbag systems, and career opportunities. Many of the participants found their professional path in the FCA Group through an AISES internship, and they described several programs at FCA Group that offer experience and continued education, with several of them pursuing these programs and earning their MS.
Materials science presenters were Dr. Konane Bay, a Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Princeton University, and Henrietta Tsosie, a doctoral student at Drexel University. They explained that materials science is the study of the properties and applications of materials (such as ceramics, metals, polymers, and composites) in construction and manufacturing. Materials — stuff — exist in a wide range of applications all around us every day, like clothing, biomedical devices, and technology. The presenters discussed how materials interact with light using gummy bears to show which colors block the light. They also demonstrated interactions with liquid and how materials break using various items such as balloons and paperclips and applying different temperatures using ping pong balls. Applications and implications of those properties were also part of the discussion.
Presenters Dr. Henrietta Mann and Norbert Hill, both of the AISES Council of Elders, discussed the issue of blood quantum, which in Dr. Mann’s words is a “matter of life and death.†For more than a century, blood quantum has been the primary way of defining Native identity: the answer to the question “who is an Indian?†would be found in the percentage of “Indian blood.†Now factors like tribal disenrollment, DNA testing, CDIB cards, online dating, and egg and sperm banks are clouding the issue of “who belongs†to a tribe in this multicultural and multiracial world. Among the many voices discussing the issue in the public forum is Norbert Hill, who has published a new book, The Great Vanishing Act: Blood Quantum and the Future of Native Nations. In this book he offers a different perspective from the federal view. “Blood quantum is not sustainable over time,†he said. “This is a complex issue. As Native people we live in the past, present, and future at the same time.†Hill provided examples of tribes struggling with the issue, which he would like to leave behind and instead focus on sovereignty and self-government. “We’ve got to figure out how to live with the polarity of blood quantum and long-term survival,†he said. “It’s not about the next generation — it’s about the next 200 years.†Dr. Mann, who contributed the foreword to Hill’s book, is equally passionate about the importance of this issue. “The first peoples of this land always had remarkable identities. We have remarkable distinct bloodlines that make us who we are,†Dr. Mann said. She provided a background on federal legislation that has affected Indigenous people and their identity and pointed out that horses, dogs, and American Indians are the only living beings in this country that carry a pedigree card. “My grandchildren will be the last to be enrolled as citizens of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes,†she said. “Our nations face a very fragile tomorrow.†Both Dr. Mann and Norbert Hill emphasized the important leadership role that today’s students can assume. What does it mean to be a Native scientist? What is your responsibility? Said Hill, “We all need to find our voices and do our part.â€
â–¸ HEARD AT THE CONFERENCE
Our ancestors made sure that we know who we are. We hold a very fragile tomorrow when it comes to blood quantum.
— Dr. Henrietta Mann, Council of Elders
Politics talk about voter suppression. We should be talking about identity suppression. Blood quantum is a form of identity suppression.
— Norbert Hill, Council of Elders
Dr. Maria Jamela Revilleza of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) began by describing how the NIH changed her life. “Revolutionary ideas often come from unexpected directions,†she said. She described the efforts of the NIH to build a diverse workforce and discussed career opportunities in tribal health research and the work of the Tribal Health Research Office, where Dr. Revilleza is the senior health science policy analyst. The office, which was established in 2015 to support culturally relevant research, gathers input from tribal communities and creates opportunities for Native researchers. She pointed out that the NIH offers a variety of training opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students as well as for high school students as “junior investigators.†The NIH also offers a short course in genomics for middle school and high school teachers and community college and tribal college faculty members.
A panel of Indigenous women at different stages in their professional roles at Google described their paths with a goal of informing students that there are many ways to create a future in STEM. One, Dezbah Hatathli, described her unconventional path starting from a degree in archaeology from Dartmouth, migrating to forensic work with the Navajo Nation, then making a career change by moving to work with autonomous vehicles. She pointed out that even though her background is not technical, she can contribute to a tech company at a high level. Blair Huffman described her background in AISES and the perseverance she needed to pursue engineering when no one around her was doing that and to eventually land her dream job at Google. “I don’t think I would have been successful without the support of my elders and senior students. I hope to mentor more students,†she said. “Don’t give up your dream — keep fighting.â€
