Announcing GA6 Conference, April 24-26, 2025!
GA 6: Geoscience and Environmental Justice in Indigenous Communities
The 6th Geoscience Alliance (GA-6) conference builds on a successful series of national conferences aiming to broaden the participation of Native Americans in geoscience and environmental sciences. The first five Geoscience Alliance conferences brought together a total of more than 500 graduate, undergraduate, and K-12 students, educators, Elders, community members, and professionals representing 40 Tribes, Bands, and Native Villages.
The GA-6 conference will take place in North Carolina and is expected to increase participation from the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, regions that have been underrepresented at prior Geoscience Alliance conferences. The conference theme, Geoscience and Environmental Justice in Indigenous Communities, considers the distributions of environmental benefits and burdens along with the environmental policies, practices, and power dynamics that influence these distributions. Noting that Indigenous communities regularly shoulder disproportionately large environmental burdens from pollution, resource extraction, and climate change, conference participants will learn about, share, and discuss some of the ways that Indigenous and western knowledges can be used to address these problems and promote environmental justice. By increasing the involvement of Native American communities underrepresented in geoscience and environmental science, the conference will help enhance human capacity in these fields at a national level.
The GA-6 conference will elevate Indigenous perspectives in environmental justice research, education, and engagement to spur ideas, dialog, and collaboration among participants and their networks. The three-day conference will include: discussion circles, workshops, poster sessions, and field trips. The main objectives of the GA-6 conference are learning; networking and career progress; understanding; making it memorable; and growing the community. The conference will fulfill each of these objectives under the established and effective Geoscience Alliance principle that everyone teaches and everyone learns. The GA-6 conference will also serve to disseminate information to participants about opportunities such as Research Experience for Undergraduate programs, internships, and academic degree programs. A focus on networking at the conference will support all participants in developing a strong network of peers and collaborators.
Location: Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment
Local Host: Professor Ryan Emanuel
April 24-26, 2025: GA6 Conference
December 2, 2024: Registration, travel scholarship applications, and workshop proposals open
February 15, 2025: Travel scholarships applications and workshop proposals close
March 1, 2025: Registration closes. Notification sent about travel scholarship applications.
March 25, 2025: Deadline to make reservations for the hotel block for those who do not have a travel scholarship
More Information: