NSF INCLUDES Alliance: Broadening Career Pathways in Food, Energy, and Water Systems with and within Native American Communities (Native FEWS Alliance)

土著FEWS(食物、能源、水系统)联盟侧重于创新研究和社区伙伴关系，将两个相互关联的挑战联系在一起：土著社区获得食物、能源和水的危机；土著居民满足这些需求的教育和职业途径有限。受气候变化、持续的新冠肺炎大流行和部落土地污染的负面影响的土著人民人数过多，表明迫切需要有效的解决办法。目前，美洲原住民和其他代表性不足的学生追求环境职业的制度路径有限。加州大学伯克利分校、亚利桑那大学和美国印第安人高等教育联盟将与20多个合作伙伴合作，显著扩大美洲原住民和其他代表性不足的学生群体的参与机会和研究与实践培训的生态系统。重点将放在拥有和寻求必要的培训和准备以应对这些关键挑战的学生身上。通过采用与文化有关的方法(由各级教育伙伴成功地制定和评估)，联盟将制定课程和指导指南，举办讲习班，调整和采用最佳做法，并分享成果。这些活动将使全国各地的机构能够获取土著FEWS教育和指导材料。扩大参与将产生更大的思想多样性，并产生与文化相关的可持续解决方案，这些解决方案适用于当地社区，但可以作为更广泛应用的基础。主流科学和技术方案迄今在应对粮食、能源、水系统(FEWS)方面的土著挑战方面效果不佳，也没有充分服务于土著社区或让土著社区参与进来。其结果是加深了土著青年的社会疏离和职业边缘化。土著FEWS联盟将把以地方为基础的教学和多样性方法与应用研究和土著知识结合起来，以改变FEWS教育，使之更适合土著社区。该实施计划旨在产生更成功的招聘、预科、留任和学位获得成果。通过汇集多个教育机构和利益攸关方的资源、专门知识和经验，联盟将开发一个网络改进社区，以实现下列相互关联的目标：解决土著社区面临的紧迫FEWS挑战；共同开发综合的、土著的、以地方为基础的FEWS课程、指导和实践经验；改造机构科学和技术领域，使其对土著社区具有相关性和可获得性；招募、留住土著学生并使其毕业，以便在FEWS接受高等教育和从事职业，并将他们的知识带回他们的社区。联盟倡议将得到严格的评估和传播，为在招聘、教学和指导美洲原住民学生和专业人员以及在建立合乎道德的、有效的共同设计的伙伴关系方面的有效实践的研究基础贡献新的知识。传播形式将包括出版物、案例研究、课程、指南、网络研讨会、播客和面向土著利益相关者的多媒体资源，并教育更广泛的可持续科学界。这个NSF联盟由NSF在全国范围内纳入未被充分代表的工程和科学发现者的学习社区(NSF Includes)资助，NSF Includes是一项全面的国家倡议，旨在通过关注多样性、包容性和扩大对STEM的参与来加强美国在发现和创新方面的领导地位，并由生物科学局、生物基础设施部、这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Native FEWS (Food, Energy, Water Systems) Alliance is focused on innovative research and community partnerships linking two interconnected challenges: a crisis in access to food, energy, and water in Indigenous communities; and limited educational and career pathways available to Indigenous populations to address these needs. The disproportionate number of Indigenous people who have being negatively impacted by climate change, the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, and pollution on tribal lands demonstrate the urgent need for effective solutions. Currently, there are limited institutional pathways for Native Americans and other underrepresented students to pursue environmental careers. The University of California at Berkeley, University of Arizona and American Indian Higher Education Consortium will work with over 20 partners to significantly broaden the opportunities for participation and the ecosystem of research and practice training by and for Native Americans and other underrepresented student groups. A focus will be on students who possess, and those who seek, the necessary training and preparation to address these critical challenges. Through the application of culturally-relevant approaches (successfully developed and evaluated by partners at all levels of the educational continuum), the Alliance will develop curricula and mentoring guides, offer workshops, adapt and adopt best practices, and share results. These activities will enable institutions across the country to access Native FEWS educational and mentoring materials. Broadening participation will produce greater diversity of thought and generate culturally relevant sustainable solutions that are applicable to local communities yet can be used as a basis for applications more broadly.Mainstream science and technology programs have to date been ineffective in responding to Indigenous challenges at the nexus of food, energy, water systems (FEWS), and do not adequately serve or engage Indigenous communities. The result is a deepening of social alienation and professional marginalization of Indigenous youth. The Native FEWS Alliance will integrate place-based approaches to teaching and diversity with applied research and Indigenous knowledges to transform FEWS education to be more relevant to Indigenous communities. The implementation plan is designed to produce more successful recruitment, matriculation, retention, and degree attainment outcomes. By bringing together the resources, expertise and experiences of multiple educational institutions and stakeholders who all share a proven track record in widening pathways for Indigenous students, the Alliance will develop a Networked Improvement Community to achieve the following interrelated goals: Address urgent FEWS challenges in Indigenous communities; Co-develop integrated, Indigenous, place-based FEWS curricula, mentoring, and practice experiences; Transform institutional science and technology fields to be relevant and accessible to Indigenous communities; and Recruit, retain and graduate Indigenous students to pursue higher education and careers in FEWS and bring their knowledge back to their communities. Alliance initiatives will be rigorously evaluated and disseminated, contributing new knowledge to the research base of effective practices in recruiting, teaching, and mentoring Native American students and professionals, and in building ethical, effective co-designed partnerships. The forms of dissemination will include publications, case studies, curricula, guidebooks, webinars, podcasts and multimedia resources for Indigenous stakeholders and to educate the wider sustainability science communities.This NSF INCLUDES Alliance is funded by NSF Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES), a comprehensive national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in discoveries and innovations by focusing on diversity, inclusion and broadening participation in STEM at scale and co-funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Division of Environmental Biology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.