Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), College of Indigenous Studies (CIS) and campuses of Bristol Bay (BBC) in Dillingham, Chukchi (CC) in Kotzebue, Interior Alaska (IAC) in Fairbanks, Kuskokwim (KuC) in Bethel, and Northwest (NWC) in Nome are collaborative partners for the Drumbeats Alaska: Place-Based Solutions for Alaska Native Food & Energy Sovereignty (Drumbeats) project. The six Alaska Native-Serving Institutions (ANSI) provide academic programming and community-based education to serve over 160 Alaska Native communities. Drumbeats addresses USDA Priorities 1: Accelerating Innovative Technologies and Practices 2. Driving Climate-Smart Solutions 3. Bolstering Nutrition Security and Health and 4.Cultivating Resilient Ecosystems, through the USDA NIFA ANNH activity of advancing educational equity. Drumbeats addresses the unique Food and Energy Security and Sovereignty (FES) challenges Alaska Native communities face in remote, rapidly changing Arctic landscapes. Drumbeats effectively provides innovative, culturally reflective education within Alaska Native communities to respond to prepare Alaska Native students for leadership and for the diverse careers available in FANH fields. Traditional approaches to food, agricultural, natural resources, and human (FANH) sciences exclude rather than affirm Alaska Native experiences, values, and knowledge which hold the FES solutions communities need to sustain themselves for future generations.ISSUE: Alaska Natives face unique, complex, and urgent FES challenges, amplified by the exponential impacts of climate change in rapidly changing Arctic landscapes of Alaska. Alaska Native communities are not easily serviced by supply chains and have historically been marginalized and limited in their control over local natural resources and wild food systems. Rapidly changing Arctic ecosystems threaten the collection of wild foods and cultivation of specialty crops. A wild food hunting and fishing economy is still a reality in Alaska. The ability to continue customary traditions of self- sustaining food production through stewardship in the management of land, game and fisheries is of paramount importance in Alaska Native communities, while opportunities to learn how to be energy efficient increases energy security. In the event of a natural disaster that renders the Port of Alaska inoperable, Alaska grocery stores would have only a three- to five-day supply of food. Moreover, Alaska faces high costs in transportation and energy, exacerbated by the pandemic, current military conflicts and a lack of local control over resources through traditional practices.METHODS: The Drumbeats model focuses on methods increasing Alaska Native access to (direct tuition and student support) and representation in academic courses (visiting elder scholars in the classroom, curriculum rooted in Indigenous knowledge and scholarship); experiential learning (direct hands-on education through traditional craft and tools, direct attendance at food and energy decision-making forums); and leadership development (curriculum and cohort focused in leadership). Drumbeats hosts six unique educational programs rooted in place-based and culturally responsive curriculum that center Indigenous knowledge and pedagogies in FES: Sustainable Energy, Ethnobotany, High Latitude Range Management, Tribal Governance and Stewardship, Food Security and Sovereignty, and Traditional Crafts and Native Language to underserved Alaska Natives. To this end, Drumbeats directly supports institution capacity and salaries to develop and maintain this unique, targeted curriculum. Additionally, an Indigenous Food and Energy Scholars program will be designed to further Alaska Native leadership and representation in FES through the development and implementation of a cohort.Drumbeats addresses viability of Alaska Native communities 1) by preparing students for place- based employment; 2) by educating community members on how to increase food security and sovereignty, including promotion of traditional food gathering; and 3) by educating community members on how to increase energy efficiency to reduce the high cost-of-living. The Drumbeats Alaska Consortium members aim to develop a cadre of local expertise and leaders through training, education and research programs built around the FANH sciences.GOALS/OUTCOMES: The goal of Drumbeats is to advance place-based Alaska Native food and energy sovereignty (FES) through equitable education, with the following objectives: 1. Advance Alaska Native representation and leadership in regional food and energy systems through culturally-appropriate, place-based education; 2. Provide Alaska Native educational opportunities for youth to engage in leadership roles in food and energy sovereignty through academic and community-based partnerships; and 3. Further Alaska Native leadership in decision-making and communication in food and energy sovereignty through the development of an Indigenous Food and Energy Scholars Program.Short Term Outcomes: 1. Increased Alaska Native enrollment in FES courses, and FANH sciences dual enrollment courses, and experiential learning opportunities; 2. Increased rate of Alaska Native graduates with FES OEs, certificates and degrees; 3. Increased knowledge and implementation by Alaska Native students in: gardening, food preservation, native plant species specialty crops, reindeer herding, sustainable energy systems, wild food stewardship, and tribal governance; 4: Increased youth knowledge, interest, and engagement in FANH and/or FES; 5. Scholars' increased knowledge of FES, leadership skills development, and confidence in their ability to lead; and 6.Improved collaboration across academics, Tribal, and community institutions to advance Alaska Native FES.Medium Term Outcomes: 1. More equitable representation of Alaska Natives in FES academic pathways; 2.Increased Alaska Native leadership in food sovereignty as evidenced in increased local food production and wild food harvesting; 3. Increased Alaska Native leadership in energy sovereignty, conservation and sustainability in energy systems; 4.Increased Alaska Native leadership in FES decision-making and governance at local, regional, statewide levels.Long Term Outcomes: 1. Alaska Natives have equity in FES academic pathways; 2. Alaska Native communities achieve improved resilience, self- sufficiency & sustainability through FES; and 3. Alaska Native communities sustain Alaska Native ways of life, knowledge, andpractices.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
Goal: Advance place-based Alaska Native food and energy sovereignty through equitable education.Objective 1: Advance Alaska Native representation and leadership in regional food and energy systems through culturally-appropriate, place-based education.Outcome 1.1: Support strategic Alaska Native student recruitment and enrollment (# of Alaska Native students enrolled) Outcome 1.2: Further develop appropriate curriculum inclusive of Alaska Native traditional knowledge, languages, and Indigenous pedagogies (# of curriculum developed and/or improved) Outcome 1.3: Continue course delivery in line with traditional harvesting seasons/cycles (evidence of course schedule alignment with traditional harvesting seasons/cycles) Outcome 1.4: Enhance in-person and distance course delivery to support Alaska Native involvement in food and energy decision-making arenas (# of courses offered and/or improved)Objective 2: Provide Alaska Native educational opportunities for youth to engage in leadership roles in food and energy sovereignty through academic and community-based partnerships.Outcome 2.1: Maintain academic and community-based partnerships serving youth (# of partnerships) Outcome 2.2: Provide direct learning for youth in food and energy related dual enrollmentopportunities (# of youth participating in dual enrollment) Outcomes 2.3: Provide food and energy related experiential learning opportunities (# of youth participating in experiential learning)Objective 3: Further Alaska Native leadership in decision-making and communication in food and energy sovereignty through the development of an Indigenous Food and Energy Scholars program.Outcome 3.1: Design and develop metrics for participation in, and successful completion of an Indigenous Food and Energy Scholars Program (ISP) (model developed) Outcome 3.2: Design and develop appropriate curriculum inclusive of Alaska Native traditional knowledge and languages for ISP, focused on leadership and communication (# of courses developed) Outcome 3.3: Deliver model Scholars cohort, inclusive of 10 students and attendance at minimum of one 3-credit course (# of courses delivered) Outcome 3.4: Increased leadership skills (attitude measure with a pre-post survey; demonstrate changes in attitude towards post-secondary attendance)
Project Methods
Efforts:ANS proposed to design and deliver curriculum through four academic programs, one community outreach project, and one student leadership program. The four academic programs are Ethnobotany, High Latitude Range Management, Tribal Governance & Stewardship, and Sustainable Energy. The one community outreach project is Food Security and Sovereignty, while the new student leadership component is the Indigenous Food and Energy Scholar's Program (ISP). Educational content is delivered through a variety of methods, by in-person instruction in the classroom, field coursework and at residential intensive sessions, by distance education using Blackboard, Zoom, and sometimes via teleconference, through workshops, and a symposium. Experiential learning, leadership, and traditional knowledge bearers are integrated into most courses. ANS faculty collaborate across programs as guest speakers sharing content and materials, by providing expertise, and through the expansion of courses held in regions outside of the home campus. Further, the USDA NIFA ANNH funding resources are maximized with contributions from multiple partners and/or supplemented by other initiatives. The additional resources assist with student tuition, student travel, faculty salary, and space for workshops and other resources.Evaluation:The Drumbeats Alaska Consortium, in consultation with Dr. Patricia Moore Shaffer, an independent evaluator with experience evaluating federal grants in Alaska (Title III, NSF, USDA), designed the project evaluation plan to 1) monitor project implementation, including assessment of fidelity of implementation of activities and formative evaluation activities to guide project improvement; and to 2) assess project effectiveness. The evaluation is designed as a multi-site evaluation (MSE) with reporting both at the campus or site level and the project level. The site level will assess the delivery of campus programs on a local level and each campus's engagement with community partners and stakeholders; an annual in-person or virtual site visit will be conducted with each campus. The site visit will include meetings or focus groups with campus leads, staff, faculty, youth, students, ISP participants, the high school principal and/or school district administrator responsible for dual enrollment, and community and tribal partners; class observations also will be conducted. Project level evaluation will assess collaboration across campuses and overall project management as well as aggregate numbers for the entire project. Strategies: The evaluation is designed to address the two strategies required in the grant RFA: project monitoring and project effectiveness.Project Monitoring: The Evaluator will conduct project monitoring by collecting data throughout project implementation to ensure project fidelity and delivery of activities as planned and listed in the project Plan of Work. Fidelity of implementation will be monitored through examination of several data sources, including but not limited to project implementation records and interviews with project staff and campus leads. Gaps between the plan and actual implementation as well as programmatic adaptations at the campus and project levels will be documented. Project output metrics will be tracked as part of monitoring. To monitor the project as it evolves, the evaluator will track the implementation of key project activities by year and will track completion of these project activities and related outputs across the grant term.As part of project monitoring, information will be collected to identify implementation barriers or challenges, successes, and sustainability actions taken at the project and campus levels. In addition to using project documentation and course data, the formative evaluation study will use data collected during annual in-person or virtual site visits.Project Effectiveness: The summative evaluation study will determine how well and to what extent the project achieved its stated goal and objectives. It will utilize a mixed methods approach to assess the accomplishment of short- and mid-term outcomes (see logic model and Goals and Objectives table). Data sources for the summative evaluation include a pre-post survey for participants of the Scholars program; OE, certificate, and degree completion data; and selected data sources, such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys, described as part of the formative evaluation. During the final year of the grant, the summative evaluation will become the primary focus of the evaluation; the summative report will provide findings for determining the usefulness of the tactics and strategies used.Timeline: During the project's first quarter, the Evaluator will work collaboratively with the project team to establish baseline data (as applicable) and annual targets for outcome and output indicators used to monitor progress. These targets will be added to the evaluation plan. Data collection will be regularly scheduled across the academic year. Project documentation, including non-course data, will be collected by the Evaluator at the end of each semester. In-person or virtual site visits will take place annually with each campus. Academic course and enrollment data will be collected at the end of the school year, with Evaluator data requests from UAF's Department of Planning Analysis and Institutional Research (PAIR). For non-university course activities (e.g., community workshops), documentation will be collected immediately after by the campus lead. Lastly, a pre-post survey for participants of the Scholars program will be administered according to program schedules.