Cyberconnectivity: Enhancing North Dakota Tribal College Research and Education

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AbstractProposal Number: EPS-1107748Proposal Title: Cyberconnectivity: Enhancing North Dakota Tribal College Research and EducationInstitution: North Dakota State University FargoProject Director: Philip BoudjoukProject DescriptionThis RII C2 proposal from North Dakota (ND) EPSCoR is focused on updating the network backbone links to four Tribal Colleges (TCs) in rural ND. The proposed upgrades will support over 2,000 students with an emphasis on video conferencing and extended workforce development opportunities.The proposed CI improvements include:- Upgrades from 10 or 50 Mbps to 100 Mpbs for Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC), Fort Berthold Community College (FBCC), Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC), and the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC).- Deployment of video conferencing systems at the 4 tribal colleges.Intellectual Merit The proposed upgrades in network connections will greatly improve the networking capacity available to the TCs. This enhanced access has the strong potential to enable additional research collaborations and teaching opportunities at the TCs. Research programs across the state will benefit from greater connectivity and opportunity to access and contribute to geophysical, environmental, and biodiversity databases. Links to the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) project will be pursued, as will Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping work in the region. Studying the regional environment will lead to new insights into the current biodistribution of different species of plans and animals, and how the environment is being affected by anthropogenic activities. Another research project will investigate digitally archiving Native American cultural artifacts and language preservation approaches. Distance learning methods will be studied to understand and share best practices in this context so other schools can leverage limited resources in a similar fashion.Broader Impacts The proposed activity will promote teaching, training, and workforce development through investments in upgraded networking to rural regions and TCs. The improvements will have a significant impact on the Native American populations, and is envisioned to strongly encourage students to pursue careers in STEM as well as cyberinfrastructure (CI) related workforce training. The cultural aspects of the work are significant and far-reaching.The TCs are the hubs for technology on the reservations, and as such, this investment will significantly affect a large community well beyond the researchers and educators involved in the project. Enabling tribal CI will help contribute to workforce development by preparing students and other members of the community to advance their job skills.