The North Dakota Tribal College REU Site will provide a research program for undergraduates during the summers of 2009-2011. Eight (8) Tribal College students will be selected each year to participate in an intensive 10-week research program in ecology. Research will be conducted by students under the guidance of mentors from Sitting Bull College, Turtle Mountain Community College, Virginia Tech, and others. Students will be involved in ecological research focusing on avian ecology and brood parasitism, the ecology and bio-accumulation of heavy metals in turtles, and the ecology of West Nile virus. The goal of the proposal is to utilize the resources of Tribal Colleges and Universities that comprise the North Dakota Association of Tribal Colleges (NDATC) in order to provide meaningful research experiences to tribal school undergraduates. Students will conduct individual research projects while becoming part of a summer research team. Research projects will focus on culturally-important issues of concern for Reservation communities in areas of environmental health and natural resource management. It is expected that this program will increase the recruitment, retention, and completion of Native American students in science, while providing a solid foundation for these students to be successful in graduate programs beyond the Tribal Colleges. Students will receive stipends and allowances for meals and lodging. Additional information can be found at www.sittingbull.edu/programs/envsci/REU or by contacting the Project Principal Investigator, Dr. Jeremy Guinn, by email at jeremyg@sbci.edu or by phone at 701-854-8037.
The Tribal College REU Site Program – United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, ND The Tribal College REU SITE program provided intensive 10-week research experience programs during the summer of 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. A total of 27 Native American students from Tribal Colleges in North Dakota participated in the program. The colleges represented by the participants included Sitting Bull College (10), Turtle Mountain Community College (6), United Tribes Technical College (9), Ft. Berthold Community College (1), and one student was a graduating high school student from Standing Rock Reservation that decided to attend the University of Minnesota. The participants represented seven separate Tribal affiliations, including Standing Rock Lakota (10), Three Affiliated Tribes (2), Turtle Mountain Chippewa (8), Spirit Lake Lakota (1), Oneida (2), Cheyenne River Lakota (3), and Standing Rock Dakota (1). More than 79% of the students trained during this program had not started their Junior year in college, with first-year (15) and second year (6) students representing the majority of our participants. The program maintained a 50:50 sex ratio among participants, showing that we were successful at attracting male Native American students to participate in the ND Tribal College REU. This is significant considering the traditional underrepresentation of males among Native Americans in higher education. We feel that the nature of our program – conducting research in ecology on Native American reservations—appeals to male students, in particular due to traditional male roles in indigenous culture. Of the twenty-seven participants, 19% (5) were non-traditional (over 30-years old). The Tribal College REU Site program had a major impact on Native American science education in the region by providing high-level science training for twenty-seven tribal members. Participants have presented their results at a variety of scientific meetings and have gone on to management positions in agencies and to graduate programs in science fields. The Tribal College REU Site program will be expanded to include a broader geographic area and more highly-qualified research mentors from across the Northern Plains. More information about the program can be obtained by contacting Dr. Jeremy Guinn, United Tribes Technical College, or from the website www.uttc.edu/about/forum/reu/.
