STEM – American Indian Higher Education Consortium

//STEM

STEM INITIATIVE

AIHEC’s STEM Initiative is currently working in these STEM research, education, and workforce development areas:

Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Team: The AIHEC CI Team advances the STEM and education programs at the nation’s 37 TCUs by implementing a comprehensive CI capacity-building strategy that focuses both on the colleges’ STEM faculty and CI support staff. With support from external partners and regional institutions, this comprehensive CI strategy focuses on CI training, planning, and community-building involving both STEM faculty and TCU IT organizations, providing the resources, technical assistance and national network to advance participating TCUs toward CI-readiness and CI-enabled STEM research and education programs.
STEM Education and Research: AIHEC’s STEM Initiative projects are intended to support TCU faculty and students engaging in research that addresses local, Tribal and regional priorities; pursuing career pathways in disciplines that address local and regional STEM workforce opportunities; and most important, support and promote ways in which science, technology and engineering contribute to Tribal Nation-building.
Climate Change Resilience: AIHEC is working with a number of partners, including the BIA Tribal Climate Resilience program (TCRP), Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (SWCASC), the Native FEWS Alliance, and the University of Colorado Boulder Environmental Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab (ESIIL).

The AIHEC STEM Initiative works with Federal agency, higher education institution and national organization partners that are making resources available to TCUs to support STEM program education and research activities. Federal agency partners include: the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs. Higher education institution and organization partners include the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), Internet2, Open Science Grid, the National Ecological Observatory Network, the Ecological Society of American (ESA), the American Society for Engineering Education, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the University of Wisconsin’s HT Condor, North Dakota State University, Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and the University of California Berkeley.

The AIHEC STEM Initiative focuses on supporting TCU STEM programs by facilitating partnerships, sharing information about available resources, and when funding allows, providing grant awards in targeted STEM areas.