Progress 06/01/23 to 05/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience are Indigenous undergraduate students at land-grant institutions. This first year of the project we are focused on supporting environmental science students at Northwest Indian College, and anticipate that as we recruit students at SACNAS, FALCON, and/or AISES conferences, which are targeted to engage Native American undergraduate students interested in research we will expand beyond the primary land-grant university. We are also including peer-mentors in our REU program, which are primarily housed at UC Santa Cruz, which is a Hispanic Serving Institution. Results from this project are focused on introducing Indigenous students to opportunities in marine climate resilience, food safety, and federal workforce opportunities. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Three academic year student interns have participated in NIFA/USDA NextGen events in Washington DC, along with PI Peacock. Students had the opportunity to engage with other NextGen students at the NextGen Spring Summit taking place May 15-17 , 2024 in the National Capitol Region. The students were Pachynne Ignacio, Steffan Kinley, and Roberto Kannapell. Steffan had been completing his postbaccalaureate intern year at the Salish Sea Research Center, and has just been promoted to Research Assistant. Steffan also had the opportunity to be part of a fireside chat with Deputy Secretary Torres-Small and was one of three students highlighted on stage for a question and answer during the event. Steffan also attended the Agricultural Outlook Forum at NIFA/USDA in February 2024. In a unique opportunity, 19 students and 14 staff, researchers, and faculty at NWIC participated in Deputy Secretary Torres-Small university visit. Students were able to ask Deputy Secretary Torres Small about her pathway to the position, and the deputy was able to interact with staff, students, and faculty who will be participation in the NextGen program in Agriculture that NWIC has. Multiple press articles were written about this event, and it provided opportunities for the PI to meet with USDA and local congressional staff. UCSC also had a visit from NextGen staff who had the opportunity to learn about the program focused on climate resilience and aquaculture. Staff and researchers participating in the summer REU program (in June 2024) also had the opportunity to meet with potential industry, state, and federal partners at the Washington State Shellfish Conference in Shelton, WA, Feb. 2024. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?There have been multiple press articles about the award, both in the Bellingham, WA and Santa Cruz, CA targeted areas. Students have been told about the summer program through multiple means, including email, website, social media, and posters with a dedicated QR code on NWIC campus to apply. This project has been disseminated to the NWIC board as well as the UCSC administration in dedicated events. The project has also been announced to various potential industry, federal, tribal, and state partners. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Our summer REU program (Y1) is just starting, and will be fully running Jun24th - August 15th 2024. We are prepared to evaluate this program with a pre-program, mid-program, and post-program survey that is being developed with Indigenous partners. Our students will participate in 8-weeks of aquaculture science, with opportunities to present their work at one of three Indigenous undergraduate conferences in the fall quarter (SACNAS, FALCON, and AISES). We have advertised for an outreach coordinator who will take over the summer internship program, and are interviewing for that position currently. We will strengthen partnerships with industry, tribal, federal, and state aquaculture researchers. Co-I Kudela is also visiting NWIC in late July for a PI meeting and engagement with interns. One graduate student, Megan Schulz, is attending the graduate student/postdoctoral NextGen opportunity in Washington DC on June 11th, 2024. We also anticipate inviting other Indigenous students from land-grant universities, specifically targeting tribal 1994-institutions to participate in next year's internship program.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During the last reporting period, NWIC and UCSC have been working to increase awareness of the new NextGen program, to hire staff related to this project, make connections with federal and industry experts, and to implement the summer internship program at NWIC and UCSC. Specifically related to Goal 1: Experiential Learning Projects (ELP): Train the next generation of Indigenous scientists and leaders by providing paid internships for Indigenous undergraduate students who are interested in aquaculture or natural resources jobs: Objective 1: Recruit Indigenous undergraduate students entering their junior and senior years in accredited programs for environmental science from tribal colleges or other land-grant institutions to complete an 8-week summer internship We have advertised for 8-week internships for the 2024 summer. Both NWIC and UCSC are on the quarter system, and academic year classes do not end until mid-June of 2024. The anticipated start date for our internship program is June 24th, 2024. Over the last reporting period we have been developing our internship program, including the week modules that will be available for students to sign up for. This was done in consultation with the cultural department at NWIC after discussions about student availability during the summer and cultural and family obligations. This allows students to be able to participate in the internship while allow respectful time for family and cultural engagements. The internships are still currently being advertised, so there is not a final count of how many interns will be available, though we have had over 40 inquiries for the 15 spots available. Intern survey: https://forms.gle/dWUiJk8TsmyPKKMZ6 Objective 2: Introduce students to targeted summer research and instrument training, focused on community-identified projects, inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge, and food and data sovereignty This objective will happen from June 24th - August 15th 2024. In preparation for it, this is the list of modules that will happen during this time period: Week 1: Marine Research Week 2: Shellfish Research Week 3: GIS and spatial mapping Week 4: Biomechanics Week 5: Federal Workforce and Aquaculture Week 6: Phytoplankton, microscopes, and marine algae! Week 7-8: Genomics and other 'omnics tools Internship opportunities will include field and laboratory work related to aquaculture, as well as visits to industry, tribal, and federal worksites in aquaculture. This will also include opportunities for students to attend a PSA conference and other internship programs at nearby colleges. The purpose of this project is to provide a pathway for the next generation of Indigenous scientists and scholars to train and engage in research science, and prepare them to access careers in state or federal food science through graduate school or direct to the workforce. Objective 3: Introduce students to industry and federal FANH workforce opportunities with targeted engagement with shellfish harvesters and aquaculture programs. In regards to objective 3, we have made connections with industry, tribal, and federal workforce opportunities. We have representatives from both confirmed to come and talk to the students this summer, and in July we will have student interns participating with shellfish aquaculture industry on San Juan Island. Students will also have the opportunity to meet with researchers at Pacific Northwest National Labs, and we are in contact for a visit to the NIFA ARS site in Newport, Oregon during the academic year for student interns. While our summer internship has yet to begin for 2024, we have focused on providing opportunities to academic year interns to participate in FANH workforce opportunities in the NextGen program, including two trips to USDA/NIFA for NextGen events. This provided for 4 interns to be introduced to FANH workforce and leadership at NIFA/USDA and to interact with other NextGen program teams. Goal 2: Student Scholarship Program: Prepare students to apply to graduate school degrees in marine science, climate science, or aquaculture. Objective 1: Provide guidance, application materials, mentoring, and facilitate network connections for students interested in graduate school This objective will be met during the course of the internship program and during the next annual reporting period. Steps have been taken in preparation for completing this goal. One graduate peer-mentor has been hired for the summer 2024 intern session, and they are attending the NextGen graduate student/postdoc even in Washington DC the week of June 9th, 2024. We are working with our partners at UCSC to make sure the materials are available for our student interns this summer. We have also hired elders and an environmental justice mentor from University of Washington - Tacoma to work with our student interns over the summer. Objective 2: Provide 1-year of full tuition scholarships to any US institution graduate program in environmental science to competitive seniors who complete two summers of internships This objective is dedicated to years 4 and 5 of our project. Goal 3: Experiential Learning Project: Create awareness and pathways for students to learn from industry, state, and USDA/NIFA partners in aquaculture. Objective 1: Identify graduate students, research faculty, and industry partnerships that will facilitate completion of student internships There is one graduate student identified as working on this project. She is an incoming graduate student at the University of Washington for fall 2024, who is currently a technician at the Salish Sea Research Center. She will be working on her graduate thesis, as well as mentoring student undergraduates in the internship program. Having a graduate student who will have access to the interns year-round will be exciting to mentor them as they apply for their graduate school journey. We have made additional partnerships with Wescott Bay oyster farm on the island of San Juan in Island County, Washington State. Our student interns this summer will visit the farm and learn about aquaculture industry. We have also made connections with two tribal aquaculture facilities and our students will be meeting with them this summer for tours. Additionally we have made contact with USDA ARS facility in Newport Oregon. While we don't have a specific date, we are hoping to bring our students to visit that facility as well. Lastly, we have a partnership with PNNL, where are students will be visiting the national lab this summer to learn about genomics in marine science. We also have made connections with the Washington Department of Health shellfish lab, and our students will be participating in DOH shellfish safety projects. Objective 2: Identify opportunities for scalability and sustainability of the internship program We anticipate completing this objective during a future reporting period. Goal 4: Outreach Education Project: Build resilience by looking towards the future. Objective 1: Develop an asynchronous course providing an overview of environmental science opportunities, specifically for FANH pathways We anticipate completing the bulk of this goal during a future reporting period, though we have begun developing relationships to enhance this course. For example, Co-I Kudela has a semi-formal link with NOAA CoastWatch, and they are enthusiastic on working with us to produce a short course training component on using satellite data for ecological projects. Objective 2: Give back to the community by participating in K-12 Summer Science camps We are planning on building up these relationships during the course of the project, but, for this upcoming summer, we will be meeting with the community by participating in an intern presentation of tidelands to preschoolers, and have a tentative date to work with Lummi Nation students during summer day camps, with the details of that project to be decided closer to the August 2024.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Peacock, M. and Kudela, R. Building a pipeline for training and recruiting Indigenous students in coastal resilience and seafood safety. NWIC Board of Trustees. April, 2024
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Schwartz, R. Bidens No. 2 in agriculture promotes aquacultures next generation at Northwest Indian College. Cascadia Daily News. Feb 9 2024. https://www.cascadiadaily.com/2024/feb/09/bidens-no-2-in-agriculture-promotes-aquacultures-next-generation-at-northwest-indian-college/
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