Mini-Grant Opportunities in the Geosciences for American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Student Chapters

美国印第安人科学与工程学会（AISES）正在实施一种新的小额融资方法，以扩大美国土著学生对地球科学的参与。通过竞争性的小额资助程序，AISES学生分会正在为美国土著城市和农村社区开发和提供以社区为基础的地球科学主题的推广和学习机会。目前全国有173个AISES学生分会，所有分会都有资格在为期两年的概念验证奖期间申请小额资助。AISES学生分会正在使用3000- 7000美元的小额赠款，用于：1)提高美国土著本科生对地球科学的认识和招聘，并改善地球科学学科的内容知识；2)通过让学生参与需要资助和项目管理的专业发展经验，为学生在地球科学领域的成功职业生涯做好准备；3)教育学生如何通过服务学习和非正式科学教育项目与公众分享地球科学知识的相关性。该项目直接服务于美国国家科学基金会扩大STEM学科参与的目标，并推进地球科学理事会提高公众地球系统科学素养的战略重点。

The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) is implementing a novel, micro-financing approach to broadening participation of Native American students in the geosciences. Through a competitive mini-grant process, AISES Student Chapters are developing and delivering community-based outreach and learning opportunities on geoscience topics for Native American urban and rural communities. There are currently 173 AISES Student Chapters nationwide and all are eligible to apply for the mini-grants during this two-year proof-of-concept award. Mini-grants in the amount of $3000-$7000 are being used by AISES Student Chapters to: 1) increase awareness and recruitment in the geosciences among Native American undergraduates and improve content knowledge in geoscience disciplines; 2) prepare students for successful careers in the geosciences by engaging then in professional development experiences requiring grantsmanship and project management; and, 3) educate students on how to share the relevance of geoscience knowledge with the public through Service Learning and Informal Science Education projects. This project directly serves the NSF goal of broadening participation in STEM disciplines and advancing the Directorate for Geosciences' strategic priority of increasing public Earth System Science literacy.