Progress 06/01/23 to 05/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:This project was designed to help Indigenous undergraduate students at land-grant institutions engage in a culturally relevant scientific field that advances their opportunities' to participate in the federal aquaculture and natural resource workforce. This first year of the project we are focused on supporting environmental science students at Northwest Indian College. In subsequent years we anticipated that we will recruit students at SACNAS, FALCON, and/or AISES conferences, which are targeted to engage Native American undergraduate students interested in research. We will expand our audience beyond the primary institution each year of our summer REU program. We are also including peer-mentors in our REU program, which are often enrolled at UC Santa Cruz, a Hispanic Serving Institution. Other target audiences are industry, academic, and federal workforce employers in aquaculture, specifically shellfish aquaculture. To engage with those audience members staff on this project have attended Washington State Aquaculture meetings, Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems events, and other local and state aquaculture research and management meetings. We also have a close connection with Lummi Natural Resources and the Lummi Shellfish Hatchery and are participating with Jamestown S'Klallam shellfish hatchery projects. In later years of this project, we hope that our Indigenous students will be able to present their research to the general aquaculture community as well as their peers. As we build our program up, our academic year interns are our focus audience for individualized projects related to the federal workforce. For example, Steffan Kinley has had the opportunity to attend NextGen student programing at the USDA building in Washington DC. This was Steffan's first trip to Washington DC where he was able to learn from students, discuss his role in aquaculture, as a practicing fisherman, and discuss the impacts that farmed fish have on native resources. From that opportunity Steffan has engage in programming outside of the anticipated project opportunities. He has been and able to discuss his community and aspirations as a NextGen Indigenous leader with staff and directors at NIFA. This includes Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small, and Director Shorty Lawrence at the USDA office of Tribal Affairs and Relations. While not a primary target of this project, Steffan Kinley's engagement shows the mutability of the target audience as this project is engaging with real students. Within 6 months, Steffan has been able to discuss aquaculture and climate resiliency to his family and community with multiple federal officers and large groups of diverse peoples. 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 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. As part of our Objective 2: Give back to the community by participating in K-12 Summer Science camps, 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 August 2024. While this is one of our objetives for the research requirements of the grant, the skills that are used to be able to translate university level research to community and K-12 children is a workforce training opportunity. We build this into the summer internship program based on the cultural values that our students hold to give back to their communities. @font-face { panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic- mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face { panose-1:2 11 0 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic- mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:536871559 3 0 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; ; mso-ascii- mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast- mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi- mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi- mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-font-kerning:1.0pt; mso-ligatures:standardcontextual;}p {mso-style-priority:99; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; ; mso-fareast-}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii- mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast- mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi- mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi- mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} 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. We have had the opportunity to announce the NextGen program at NWIC at all staff and all student events, and had a table set up at the spring fair to let students know about the summer internship. We have spent the last year developing dissemination materials that will be provided at various conferences. These are anticipated to be Indigenous student conferences, such as Falcon, AIHEC, AISES, and SACNAS. Materials feature the NextGen program and have information to apply for the summer 2025 internship. We also have an industry participation partnership dissemination packet that we will provide to potential industry partners in Washington state and California to determine what connections can be made with aquaculture partnerships. @font-face { panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic- mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face { panose-1:2 11 0 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic- mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:536871559 3 0 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; ; mso-ascii- mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast- mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi- mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi- mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-font-kerning:1.0pt; mso-ligatures:standardcontextual;}p {mso-style-priority:99; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; ; mso-fareast-}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii- mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast- mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi- mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi- mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} 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?
NWIC and UCSC have been increasing project awareness, hired staff, made connections with federal and industry experts, and implemented the summer internship program. Objectives that take place in later periods are excluded to save space. Goal 1: Train Indigenous scientists and leaders and provide paid internships for Indigenous students interested in aquaculture or natural resources Obj1: Recruit Indigenous jr. and sr. undergrads in environmental science for 8-week summer internships Internships are incredibly popular for Indigenous students, but many are advertised as all or nothing - an opportunity to learn, and engage, but a restrictive requirement to participate for the entirety of 8 (or 10) weeks. While this reporting period is before the start of our summer internship, we have designed the program with this in mind. Historically 100% NWIC Indigenous interns have had a scheduling conflict during that 8-week period. Many of those conflicts are cultural or related to family care and obligations. The summer months are times when school-age children are home, when canoe journeys are happening, and when students who have worked incredibly hard during the academic year may need intentional time to breathe. In consultation with the cultural dept. have pivoted and changed our 8-week summer internship program to eight 1-week modules. The start is June 24th, 2024. Our hope is that this will impact our students in a positive way, by allowing them to sign-up only when they are available. This has helped us engage our support staff and faculty in 1-week learning opportunities - allowing us to have experts in each module who, like many of the students, could not commit to an 8-week internship. Students are not penalized for missing a day (or week) of internship but will be mentored and guided to be present and participatory in the weeks they will attend. The internships are still currently being advertised, so there is not a final count, though we have had over 40 inquiries for the 15 spots available. This includes two Indigenous students who do not attend NWIC but are attending nearby Western Washington University (WWU) and heard about the program by word-of mouth. We have also been able to hire 4 additional experts with experience in GIS and storytelling, biomechanics of marine animals, ocean acidification, and phytoplankton identification. Obj2: Introduce students to summer research, focused on community-identified projects, inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge, and food and data sovereignty Summer 2024 list of modules: 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 For brevity, the weeks are named after the topic, but included in the sign-ups are exciting details. For example, Week 4: Biomechanics is a deep dive into how invasive European Green Crab use superior claw strength to damage young shellfish. This is an issue for our Indigenous students and community, as aquaculture of shellfish is both a commercial and subsistence necessity. Three interns have expressed interest in this module, not only for the science, but also because they, their families, and their communities are impacted directly by loss of subsistence and commercial shellfish harvests. Our anticipated outcomes from this week will be for interns to learn to identify this invasive species, measure claw strength, and investigate the impacts that will have on clam beds. To build a pipeline for our Indigenous students to enter the federal workforce, we are planning engaging community science topics, that have direct impacts and applied scientific outcomes for the students. Woven into the threads of this research are opportunities to meet with Indigenous and industry aquaculture scientists, academic experts, and state and federal managers who work together to identify and engage in large-scale ecological and economic issues related to NIFA-USDA FANH focus areas. Obj3: Introduce students to industry and federal workforce opportunities with shellfish harvesters and aquaculture programs. Partnerships are built at the speed of trust, and in the past year we have made connections with industry, tribal, and federal workforce partners. Washington's aquaculture industries are uniquely managed, through a patchwork of tribal, state, and industry partners. While management outcomes and outputs for each may be different, background understanding of the industry and research is necessary. To facilitate this, we have representatives from tribal, industry, state, and federal partners confirmed to teach students this summer or offer opportunities for active visits. In July we will have student interns participating with shellfish aquaculture industry on San Juan Island, by learning each of the jobs that are necessary for oyster aquaculture. Students will also 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. To engage these partners, 3 staff attended the Washington State Shellfish conference in Feb 2024 where all parties are brought to the table. This produced incredibly important industry contacts and introduced the NextGen program to industry and state partners. Megan Schulz, connected with academics at the University of Washington (UW) will be a graduate student in that program in the Fall of 2024. While attending school she will continue to be 50% time on this project, and our undergraduate interns will have the benefit of a graduate mentor. Goal 3: Create awareness and pathways for students to learn from industry, state, and USDA/NIFA partners in aquaculture Obj1: Identify graduate students, research faculty, and industry partnerships that will facilitate completion of student internships Megan Schulz is an incoming graduate student at the UW for fall 2024, and a current technician at the SSRC. 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. Many students from NWIC choose to go to either nearby Western Washington University (in Bellingham, WA) or University of Washington (Seattle, WA) as NWIC does not provide graduate degrees. We have already secured a Western Washington University graduate student who is a Lummi Natural Resources technician to be a graduate student mentor in Summer 2025. We have made additional partnerships with industries, for example, with Wescott Bay oyster farm on the island of San Juan in Island County, WA. 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 (Lummi hatchery and Skookum hatchery). Additionally, we have contacted 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. Goal 4: Build resilience by looking towards the future Obj1: Develop an asynchronous course providing an overview of environmental science opportunities 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.
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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