Category: Session 5: Action Items for the Future of the Geoscience Alliance

 Next year’s conference:

• Set up a separate e-mail account for GA conference 2011
• Make contacts with tribal college faculty and presidents.

o   We need better matriculation between tribal colleges and nearby universities

o   23/36 tribal colleges have an environmental science or natural resource program

 

Question: Do we have an advisory board?

• If we do have an advisory board, who would we want on it?
• What type of knowledge do we want?

 

Ten-year goal: Make sure GA is still around

• Practical level

o   We need volunteers who will be active

o   We need resources, people, and people time

• This has to be an organization*

o   How do we sustain ourselves?

o   Do we want to seek sponsorship?

o   *Key point at the next conference

• Form affiliations with other science centers to synergize efforts rather than compete for students

o   Ex: NCED talks to USGS, National Park Service

o   Most agencies have tribal programs

o   Increase communication between the federal world and the academic world

§  Memo of Understanding

• Don’t discount non-traditional students. Many of them are very strong, determined students.
• Possible links:

o   http://www.epa.gov/iaqtribal/directory.html

§  EPA directory of Tribal Champions

• GA challenge – every GA scientist to tell one elementary or secondary class about their experiences as a geoscientist
• Put a description of the schools you visited in the GA bio next year

• Set up afterschool program or job shadow for high school/middle school youth
• Family Science Night

• Can open classrooms to have a GA member speak about what a geologist does and why it is important to broaden participation
• Middle school job shadow with local environmental scientists
• Family education model

o   Tony – every time he takes his students (tribal community college) into the field he invites 7^th and 8^th graders to go with them.

§  Result is improved behavior and attention for both groups

• Family Science Night

• Student to student word-of-mouth
• Each GA student member is to talk to one other student about participating in a summer research opportunity.
• GA should have a central contact list of student members so that anyone with a research opportunity can e-mail one person, who will forward it to the student list.*
• Each student on the student list can then be asked forward directly to at least one other student. [Note: opportunities that get sent to departments often only make it to a handful of chosen students]
• *Nievita added this point – I would be happy to be the central student e-mail list point person, if desired, as part of my GA Student Outreach Coordinator duties
• Each GA student member should arrange to speak with one group in their community about careers in the geosciences and why it is important to have Native geoscientists.
• Put a description of the schools you visited in your GA bio next year
• A GA Powerpoint presentation can be put together and made available to students, so that they would only need to add a few personal touches before presenting to community meeting or local middle/high school group*.
• *Nievita has volunteered to be the point person on this

• The manoomin Project is seen as a very good model for broadening participation
• Important resource to the community becomes a research project
• Need to write up how to get started in this type of project and publish it so it can be used as a model for GA members in their own communities
• Mansel A. Nelson @ Northern Arizona University, program coordinator for Environmental Education Outreach Program (EEOP) is interested in working with students, teachers, and institutions
• This program is part of Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP)
• http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~man5/

Geoscience Alliance (GA) sponsorships

• Fund three students to AGU
• Science Fair awards
• Certificates
• Can be made as digital file (Powerpoint?) that GA members can print out and present locally
• GA members should look for opportunities within their own communities to give this special certificate award to Native American students with the best Earth science project.
• SACNAS
• Certificate, invitation to join GA and ?
• Nievita Bueno Watts will look into how to sponsor a SACNAS award
• Diana Dalbotten will look into what we can give attendees
• GA members in attendance @ SACNAS can decide who to present the award to.
• AGU and other conferences
• Should we try to present certificates at other conferences?