EAGER- Strengthening the Geoscience Community

The Indigenous Geoscience Community proposes to bring together diverse Indigenous communities in an environment that will strengthen individuals, communities, and academia and professional spaces, by fostering cross-cultural exchange of Traditional Knowledge (TK), present diverse strategies for addressing environmental issues that directly impact sovereignty and human health, provide opportunity for cross-cultural collaborations with benefits of building these relationships, identify Indigenous mentors to provide a support system for youth and early career professionals, foster the development of innovative solutions for geoscience research and education, and deepen the knowledge of geoscience. The PIs have developed a successful method of engaging Indigenous communities in geoscience research methodologies and policy and in conducting geoscience research in both the lab and in the field and in using TK to teach STEM. Participant deliverables include, developing research methods based on cultural background, blogs, research papers, posters, and conference presentations. PThe Indigenous Geoscience Community aims to address obstacles (e.g. feelings of isolation, lack of support, and disillusionment due to a lack of self-efficacy, misalignment of cultural ideologies, and contrasting worldviews) encountered by Indigenous students and professions in the geosciences. The project will provide a secure environment for participants to; 1-present their whole identity as an Indigenous geoscientist, 2- discuss both TK systems blended with their geoscience research, 3- build peer and mentor support networks, 4- identify Indigenous geoscience and cultural practitioners as mentors, and 5- establish a community that understands and applies a culturally aware and ethical framework, 6- to develop a guide of best practices for engaging in research and education with Indigenous communities using collective input from multiple Indigenous groups. 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.