[♪♪]
Carol Davis: We could major in STEM fields,
we could bring these careers to the reservations
and we could fill vacancies on our reservations
and bring economic development.
Carrie Duafala: The funding that comes in
with these programs
brings jobs into an area where we need more jobs.
Elmer Guy: We believe STEM programs
are preparing a workforce of the future.
[♪♪]
Narrator: In 2000,
after visiting Pine Ridge Reservation,
the President of the United States directed federal agencies
to develop strategies to combat extreme poverty
and high unemployment on Indian reservations.
The National Science Foundation, with its mission to support
and grow a diverse STEM workforce,
was perfectly positioned to respond.
And TCUP - The Tribal Colleges and Universities Program
was born.
Carrie Duafala: There is a need for students
to learn the skills
so that they can get jobs in the community once they graduate.
By going through our program here,
our students are able to get jobs
in many of the different offices such as water resources,
fish and wildlife, EPA office, some of the BIA positions,
and planning and land management.
Narrator: Until recently, STEM jobs
were typically out of reach to most tribal members.
Only a few had degrees in STEM.
With NSF’s investment in STEM at tribal colleges,
more and more tribal members are graduating with STEM degrees,
and they are going on to higher-skilled,
higher paying jobs.
These graduates are part of a small,
but growing STEM workforce that is building up
community infrastructure, innovation, and quality of life.
Elmer Guy: A lot of those jobs
were contracted out previously to outside companies.
We are now working with Navajo Nation
to develop those programs here
and to prepare our own people to provide those services.
Cynthia: There are a variety of careers
and professions under the STEM discipline
that our people can strive to become…teacher,
land management, researcher.
Kerry: We have a couple of graduates
working at the tribal Game and Fish,
we have a couple working at the tribal Environmental,
we have a couple working in the Energy Department.
Cynthia: Spirit Lake Dakota Tribe
has our first engineer.
Narrator: Inadequate housing,
degraded ecosystems, unreliable water.
..tribal communities face extraordinary challenges.
STEM educational and indigenous community leaders
combine western science, traditional knowledge,
creativity and perseverance
to lay the groundwork for solutions.
In the process,
they are preparing TCUP students for STEM jobs
that are critically needed to address the challenges.
Narrator: Jefferson, a tribal college
graduate working toward his master’s degree,
is researching eelgrass --
a vital fish and wildlife habitat.
Jefferson Emm: I’m trying to be kind of
on the forefront of learning how to map-habitat with UAVs.
And so, if I could apply that in GIS work,
add those skillsets to my resume,
I think that would make me a strong candidate
for jobs in the future.
Narrator: Alexis is investigating
decreased Juneberry populations
at the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
Alexis Archambault: We decided to study
the native pollinators.
Bees are a main essential component
in virtually every ecosystem.
We are classifying how many of each species
are pollinating the native plants around this area.
Alexis: I’d like to go back home
to my reservation,
which is the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation
and I’d like to work for the EPA program.
Kerry Hartman: Our goal is to be
the Mecca of renewable energies on the northern Great Plains.
We’re going to incorporate solar energies,
and we’re going to teach students
how the technology works.
Cordell: The majority of the families
don’t have direct power lines to their house.
So, I’m involved in a project with sustainable housing.
SOT “What we can do is get all the measurements back
and from there…”
So, with this solar home they can rely on natural heating.
Kerry: They can do everything from
starting a business of their own to going on to a bachelor’s
or a higher degree in sustainable energies,
or photovoltaics, or wind engineering.
Narrator: Whether it’s creating
more efficient solar heating systems,
designing new tools for environmental health research,
or implementing infrastructure improvements,
engineering benefits the health, wealth,
and well-being of a community.
Narrator: NSF TCUP supports
engineering students through PEEC,
which develops engineering degree programs
at tribal colleges.
Teri Allery: I came back
to school at the age of 26
and found this program called PEEC.
Now I've decided to go back for my Master's
in construction management.
Teri Allery: There's a lot of need
for road work around here,
whether it's working for the Reservation
or starting my own business…I just want to help my community
and give back;
since they gave me such a great opportunity
to fulfill my dreams.
Narrator: Ryan transitioned from
a tribal college to a 4-year university
and is now a licensed engineer and project manager
with his tribe’s planning department.
Ryan Brown: I feel the PEEC Program
did a very good job
on preparing us for that next step up.
I always had an interest in building things;
kind of figuring out how things worked.
And growing up around this area,
you deal with a lot of water resource
type activities with the lake.
Ryan: Our leaders here have been
looking out for the overall health of our community.
And my role in being part of that,
I get to be overseeing the types of rehab,
building, construction that’s going on here.
Narrator: NSF TCUP actively supports
the recruitment and retention of veterans in STEM fields.
Lisa served in the military specializing in logistics.
She’s working toward a degree in industrial engineering.
Lisa: We’re thinking of using
four of these motors,
so we’re going to put, have them right here.
Lisa: My background is logistics,
so I’m able to learn more about industrial engineering
and all the different ways it can be applied in Navajo Nation.
My education will help out a lot as far as job placement goes.
Narrator: Tribal colleges also help lay
the foundation for STEM students to become entrepreneurs.
By expanding their STEM-based businesses,
these students and graduates, in turn,
go on to become STEM job creators
and are vital to workforce development
both in and outside the tribal community.
Kirsch Davis: I have done four internships
with NASA, throughout the United States.
With the hands-on experience, it actually enabled me
to actually start my own business
and to actually produce a drone myself.
This drone will be used for different applications,
taking aerial views, doing mappings.
Kirsch: One thing I want to do
is focus on the study of the uranium mine levels here
on the Navajo reservation.
Hansen: One of the issues
that we addressed was the velocity…
Narrator: Like Kirsch, Hansen is
an entrepreneur, also working toward a degree
in electrical engineering.
Hansen: I started my business
and it’s actually going pretty well.
One of the things that I wanted to do
is give it sort of a Navajo name.
The Navajo word is atsiniltłʼish…lightning.
Hansen: I would like to get into
doing more engineering contracts as we go along and get bigger.
I would like to have more entrepreneurs
on the reservation.
If I can do it, they can do it too.
Narrator: Many tribal members
with disabilities live in rural areas
and have limited access to healthcare.
Engineers are designing innovative biomedical devices,
saving lives and creating jobs.
Ericka: I went into
electrical engineering.
I was going to school for nursing.
I kind of got bored with it
because the math wasn’t very challenging
and I felt like I needed to be challenged.
Ericka: The solar medicine cooler
was a project
that was submitted to the White House Innovation Challenge.
We did receive first place for a Tribal College and University.
The whole reasoning behind it
is because on the Navajo reservation,
there’s a high rate of diabetes
and a lot of people don’t have electricity.
Ericka: I’m interested in working
on devices that can help individuals
have a better quality of life.
Sandoval: I created a voice-activated
power wheel chair.
It was broken down, it was sitting in the dirt,
I cut it apart and I re-built it.
My father is handicapped, he’s a quadriplegic.
And he uses that on an everyday basis now.
And there’s a lot of people that need it.
The STEM classes that I’ve had here have prepared me
to work in the workforce and be a productive employee.
Elmer Guy: As we look at the STEM programs,
they will really help build economy on Navajo.
We are preparing a workforce of the future.
Narrator: Investments in tribal colleges
and universities by NSF
and other agencies are building strong STEM programs,
enhanced economic development,
improvements in community infrastructure
and a highly-skilled and sought-after workforce.
Cynthia Lindquist: What is it we need to do
to address endemic poverty,
in our people, with our communities?
Carty Monette: We have students
who are engineers,
we have students who work in the environment,
we have students who are doing all these things in STEM.
Cynthia: We fight hard to raise that bar
economically and to bridge that gap from the disparities.
Kerry: When they see one of
their own uncles or brothers
making a presentation about water quality,
or running a science experiment,
or exhibiting some solar panels,
it gives the young ones a confirmation
that they can do anything they want to also.
Cynthia: We’re building up confidence,
we’re building up that hope.
Ryan: Getting an engineering degree
or any type of STEM activity degree is…it’s possible.
Jefferson A lot of people feel that
in the past that door has been closed
and it’s just seeing that the door is open.
Cynthia: We can do this,
we are doing this.
Narrator: The education provided
by these small but persevering tribal colleges,
together with the National Science Foundation,
is opening doors…for tribal community members
to earn STEM degrees…to attain
good jobs…and to help tribal communities
turn from poverty and unemployment
to economic growth and empowerment.
[♪♪]