Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The USDA-NBTS 2024-2028Sustaining Pathways for Tribal Student Recruitment, Engagement, and Successproject continues work to address two pressing problems in science and practice in the US, especially related to food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences, which are:New and more diverse strategies are needed, including from different paradigms (such as an increased inclusion of indigenous worldview), in order to improve the sustainability, productivity, and health impacts of our nation's food and agriculture systems.Professionals working in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences are not reflective of the diversity of our nation, with Native Americans particularly underrepresented.Fortunately, one solution can help address both problems. Diversifying the people studying in, and leading, food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences will also help diversify our practices and paradigms for solving some of our most urgent food and agriculture system issues. The inclusion of an indigenous worldview would add value to by broadening the scope of what is included or viewed as academic programming in FANH sciences. This worldview would encompass a respect for Mother Earth and inclusion of sustainable practices (Kimmerer, 2016). As detailed in this proposal, the Sustaining Pathways project is designed to contribute to this solution by attracting, retaining, and graduating more Native American students, with more diverse worldviews, in UW degree programs particularly programs supporting food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
50%
Developmental
50%
Goals / Objectives
Our goals and strategies are to:Attract and retain more Native students by (a) supporting mentoring groups for Native students at UW and (b) supporting Native students at Central Wyoming College (CWC, a community college adjacent to the Wind River Indian Reservation [WRIR], home of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes) through inclusion in UW mentoring group activities. These will offer experiential learning, professional development, mentoring, networking, emotional support, and academic advising.Recruit more Native students by (a) hosting a two-day workshop on the WRIR in coordination with the Native American Summer Institute (NASI) and CWC and (b) engaging current UW and CWC faculty, research scientists, and students with outreach activities on the WRIR including the two-day workshop.
Project Methods
Sustaining Pathways mentorship groupsSpoonhunter, Keith, and Tendore, with Lumadue, will support mentorship groups for Native students enrolled at UW through work at the NAERCC. Activities, advising, workshops, and schedules will be co-designed with students in these groups and might change over time. Our approaches include:Hosting at least monthly student meetings that will include networking, peer/staff/faculty mentorship, academic advising, research and experiential learning opportunities. Tendore and Spoonhunter will also connect individual students with needed support, such as career counseling, tutoring, and financial aid. Any student who self-identifies as Native may join these mentorship groups. Adult community members from WRIR can join as participants and as leaders of experiential learning activities.With faculty mentorship and support, member students will offer outreach and cultural awareness programs to help enrich food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences paradigms and practices. These will include approaches such as seminars, art-science installations, and guest lectures in related courses.The co-investigators at UW will work together with CWC advisors to assist and encourage Native students at CWC who are completing a two-year degree about transferring to UW to complete a four-year degree, in particular in the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences.Native American Summer Institute at UW with summer workshopsIn Sustaining Pathways we will offer food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences academic workshops during the week-long Native American Summer Institute (NASI) at UW for Native high school students and host a summer workshop on the WRIR with a food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences focus. The summer workshop will target Native adults who are high school or GED graduates (including students enrolled at CWC), tribal community members, and UW researchers and students. The two-day workshops as part of the previously funded USDA-NBTS Growing Season project were successful, particularly when including tribal partners and time for relationship building. In Sustaining Pathways, we will continue and build on these workshops to broaden impact and connections between potential Native students, tribal community members, and UW researchers and students.The high school workshops as part of NASI will consist of hands-on sessions in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. These will take place as concurrent sessions among which the high school students can choose. For example, this might include assessing survey and biometric health measures from the researchers in the NIH-funded Growing Resilience project, building raised-bed gardens in a horticulture workshop, or making meals that blend traditional native foods with more readily available substitutes (e.g., chokecherry gravy with wheat and biscuit-root flour unfried bread).The summer workshops on the WRIR will offer hands-on activities and relationship building with community partners and tribal organizations on the WRIR. We will prioritize partnership with the CWC Alpine Science Institute for hosting and housing based on previous collaborations and student experiences. In addition to faculty-led academic sessions, there will also be community partner speakers on food sovereignty, gardening, tribal water engineering, gathering of traditional foods and plants, buffalo restoration, and presentations by Shoshone & Arapaho Fish & Game. Other sessions will allow time for building connections and learning about opportunities with tribal partners. This will build students' knowledge about how education programs are applied on the WRIR. Finally, sessions may be about surviving and thriving in higher education and discussing how who they are and what they can learn can help them with their careers and with serving the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences and their communities now, during their studies, and after graduation.NAERCC, and Tendore through her work as Native American program advisor, manages NASI and advertises and recruits extensively among the WRIR-area high schools. Tendore and Spoonhunter, in collaboration with Keith and Lumadue, will market and manage the summer workshop application process. We will accept any applying student who has a high school or GED degree, is aged 18 or older by the time of the workshop, and who self-identifies as Native. This can include students who are already enrolled at CWC or UW. We will especially encourage high school NASI participants to participate in the summer workshops once they graduate. Keith, in collaboration with Spoonhunter and Lumadue, will recruit UW researchers and students to participate in summer workshops on the WRIR to promote and enhance relationships, knowledge-sharing, and community-centered collaborations.NAERCC currently provides and will continue to provide cultural training and resources for the faculty and staff who participate in NASI. All food, lodging, and transport from WRIR is organized by NAERCC and provided at no cost to students. The core costs of the high school NASI will continue to be incurred by the UW Dean of Students Office, donations, and the Wyoming INBRE program will continue support for health related sessions. Keith will serve as the curriculum director for food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences workshops and Tendore as recruitment and student director. NAERCC also recruits and trains peer mentors from among UW Native students who support all of the participants, stay in the residence halls with them, and help them navigate the campus and NASI curricula.Evaluation summary: Project activities & outcomesNative American Summer Institute (NASI)Increase student knowledge of and interest in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences; increase student enrollment at UW especially in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences; increase the cultural competence of faculty. Data collection & analysis: Make field notes about each meeting and event that track quantitative participation and qualitative observations. Gather information from students at NASI using indigenous evaluation methods of talking circles and storytelling. Gather survey data from students at end of each NASI week self-assessing any changes in interest in and knowledge about food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences and interest in enrolling in higher education. Conduct and analyze annual surveys of faculty participants self-assessing their own learning and providing program feedback. Track who and how many NASI participants become CWC or UW students.Mentorship groups Improve recruitment, success, feelings of belonging, retention, and graduation of students. Make field notes about each meeting and event that track quantitative participation and qualitative observations. Gather information from students using indigenous evaluation methods of talking circles and storytelling. Conduct and analyze annual surveys of student participants assessing student success, perceptions of support and belonging, and academic interests and program enrollment. Track Native student enrollment at UW, transfers from CWC to UW, retention, and graduation rates.