Native American Tribal environments have often historically been neglected; and tribes have inadequate resources and expertise to deal with cleanup and prevention of further pollution. Because tribes need to know how to measure and analyze their own environmental risks, a technologically educated and trained Native American environmental work force is needed. This project is using existing resources to create and transfer an interdisciplinary environmental technology associate degree curriculum for tribal colleges and other community colleges with roles in educating American Indians. It is also providing faculty enhancement, instructional materials, and a rotating equipment program. The curriculum focuses on those technologies used for environmental monitoring, site assessment, solid waste management, and pollution prevention, as these are the prominent environmental issues facing tribal lands. From incorporation of support disciplines (mathematics, science, communications), students are developing analytical skills for situations for which they are not specifically trained. Mesa State College, Navajo Community College, and Northern New Mexico Community College are the resource colleges, each with different established environmental technology programs. The pilot group of tribal and tribally related colleges are Navajo Community College, Northern New Mexico Community College, Crownpoint Institute of Technology and Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute. Two additional tribal colleges may be added. The project methodology is interactive, using workshops, site visits, iterative writing/review, and hands-on training. The tribal colleges are part of the process from the beginning and will take ownership of the curriculum. Baseline data on the tribal colleges will be gathered and progress will be evaluated over a three-year period.
