Building a Network for Education and Employment in Environmental Stewardship of Indigenous Lands

美国要保持其在世界经济舞台上的领导地位，就必须加强美国在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域的劳动力。我们当前的繁荣和未来的成功取决于招聘、培训和雇用有创造力和勤奋的STEM专业人士，他们推动了创新经济。加强美国的STEM劳动力在一定程度上取决于扩大学生的参与，这些学生传统上在STEM领域的代表性不足。这个NSF INCLUDES启动试点项目将促进土著STEM学生的招聘、培训和就业，其中“土著”一词包括美洲原住民、美洲印第安人、阿拉斯加原住民和夏威夷原住民。具体而言，该项目将支持设计和开发首个此类网络，重点关注土著土地的环境管理。该网络将包括部落和政府合作伙伴，并将由科罗拉多-丹佛大学的三位教员组织。学生的招生、培训和就业将围绕土地管理的统一原则进行。选择对土地管理的关注不仅是因为它需要STEM专业人员的专业知识，而且还因为土地管理是土着学生考虑STEM职业的首要动机之一。因此，这项工作在几个方面都很重要：它解决了对STEM专业人员的公认需求；它扩大了代表性不足群体学生的参与；它还提供了一个试验台，让部落、政府和大学合作伙伴首次参与集体行动。拟议的网络将共同设计、部署和调试一个独特的教育计划，为学生提供一个培训就业的机会，作为环境领域的部落联络员。特别是，该项目将满足对文化敏感、受过科学训练的个人的需求，这些个人可以作为部落和非部落组织之间的部落联络人，这将使他们能够通过对STEM原则和组织动态的理解来预防、减少或管理环境事件。该教育项目的所有学生都将获得常规的四年STEM学位，但该项目的一个关键特点是，他们还将参加旨在提供文化意识、环境法规和组织动态等非技术问题背景的培训和实习。此外，该教育计划旨在通过以下方式支持土著学生的招募：(1)提供高影响力、与文化相关的职业生涯的清晰愿景；(2)提供与获得大学学位的文化联系。总的来说，该网络旨在增加土著学生的入学、留校、毕业和校友活动。集体影响的最佳实践和战略将用于记录该网络在增加高等教育和STEM职业中土著学生的入学、保留、毕业和校友活动方面取得的成就。持续的反馈将被收集来评估合作伙伴的参与度和持久性，以及学生的满意度、表现和进步。预计该网络将是可持续的，因为它解决了已证明的需求；它有望扩大规模，因为不仅在地区，而且在全国都需要具有科学意识和文化敏感性的个人，他们可以充当部落联络人。

For the United States to maintain its leading role on the world economic stage, it is essential to strengthen the American workforce in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Our current prosperity and our future success hinge on recruiting, training, and employing the creative and industrious STEM professionals who drive the innovation economy. Strengthening the American STEM workforce depends, in part, on broadening participation to students from demographics that have traditionally been underrepresented in STEM. This NSF INCLUDES Launch Pilot project will foster recruitment, training, and employment for indigenous STEM students, where the term "indigenous" comprises the terms Native American, American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Hawaiian Native. Specifically, this project will support the design and development of a first-of-its-kind network focused on environmental stewardship of indigenous lands. The network will comprise both tribal and government partners and will be organized by three faculty at the University of Colorado-Denver. Student recruitment, training, and employment will be organized around the unifying principle of land stewardship. The focus on land stewardship has been selected not only because it demands the expertise of STEM professionals, but also because land stewardship is among the top motivations for indigenous students considering STEM careers. Accordingly, this work is important on several fronts: It addresses the recognized need for STEM professionals; it broadens participation to students from underrepresented groups; and it provides a test bed for collective action by a first-of-its-kind network of tribal, government, and university partners.The proposed network will work together to design, deploy, and debug a unique educational program giving students an opportunity to train for employment as tribal liaisons in the environmental field. In particular, this program will address the need for culturally-sensitive, scientifically-trained individuals who can serve as tribal liaisons between tribal and non-tribal organizations, which will allow them to prevent, minimize, or manage environmental incidents through their understanding of STEM principles and organizational dynamics. All students in this educational program will earn a regular four-year STEM degree, but a key feature of the program is that they will also participate in training and internships designed to provide background with nontechnical matters such as cultural awareness, environmental regulations, and organizational dynamics. Additionally, this educational program is designed to support recruitment of indigenous students by (1) providing a clear vision of a high-impact, culturally-relevant professional career and by (2) providing a cultural connection with obtaining a college degree. Taken together, the network aims to increase enrollment, retention, graduation, and alumni activity by indigenous students. Best practices and strategies for collective impact will be used to document achievement of the network in increasing the enrollment, retention, graduation, and alumni activity of indigenous students in higher education and in STEM careers. Continuous feedback will be collected to assess partner engagement and durability, and student satisfaction, performance, and progress. The network is expected to be sustainable because it addresses a demonstrated need; it is expected to be scalable because scientifically aware, culturally-sensitive individuals who can serve as tribal liaisons are needed not only regionally, but nationally.