STEM Education and Research
STEM EDUCATION
& RESEARCH
AIHEC is committed to supporting TCU STEM education and research programs that contribute to the core mission of the Tribal College Movement: Tribal Nation-building. The STEM initiatives listed below are intended to: a) support and facilitate TCU faculty and students engaging in research that addresses Tribal and local priorities; b) encourage students pursuing a career pathway in STEM disciplines, particularly those that address a local or regional STEM workforce need or opportunity.
Through activities such as communities of practice hosting, professional development opportunities for faculty and students, support for development of curriculum materials and facilitation of research collaborations, AIHEC is continually pursuing opportunities to support STEM at TCUs.

The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) is excited to launch an initiative titled “Growing & Sustaining Our Own: Native STEM Teacher Pathways.” Supported by the General Motors Foundation, this effort aims to address historic inequities and exclusion faced by American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) youth in K-12 schools and STEM fields by increasing the number of AIAN STEM teachers. The goal of this initiative is to support Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) in developing and implementing strategies that expand community-grounded teacher education programs and foster an intertribal strategy for addressing AIAN STEM teacher shortages.
We invite proposals that advance one or more of the following goals through specific tasks:
Goal 1: Invigorate STEM Education in the Classroom
• Task: Develop and implement curricula that foster critical thinking, teamwork, and curiosity through interactive learning activities incorporating Indigenous knowledge and teachings.
• Funding: Up to $25,000 each.
Goal 2: Bolster the Quantity of Qualified Educators
• Task: Develop and implement a comprehensive asynchronous Praxis state
licensure preparation program for TCU pre-service educator programs.
• Funding: Up to $35,000 each.
Goal 3: Stimulate STEM Outside of the Classroom
• Task: Develop and implement STEM-related community events or activities that provide equitable access to STEM education from TCUs to the community.
• Funding: Up to $20,000 each.
Application Information
Eligibility: Any TCU with Regular Member status in AIHEC.
Deadline: Applications must be received via email by 8:00 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, August 16, 2024.
E-mail applications or inquiries to: mjones@aihec.org.
Application Requirements: Applications must consist of a project narrative of no greater than 5 pages, single-spaced, 12-point font text, and 1-inch margins, including:
1. Project Summary (250 words max): Briefly describe the project’s goal, activities, participants, and deliverables, indicating which goal you are applying for.
2. Opportunity, Objectives, and Activities: Detail the problem/opportunity, target audience, objectives, activities, and deliverables.
3. Key Personnel and Responsibilities: Describe the project’s key individuals, their responsibilities, and any institutional partnerships.
4. Timeline: Outline the timing and expected completion of project activities.
5. Outcomes, Impacts, and Evaluation: Describe the expected outcomes, impacts, and evaluation plans.
6. Budget: Provide a detailed budget estimate linked to the scope of work.
We look forward to receiving your proposals and supporting initiatives that will grow and sustain Native STEM teacher pathways.
If you have any questions, please contact Michael Jones at MJones@aihec.org.

STEM Initiatives
Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering
Advanced manufacturing encompasses the wide range of technologies that are revolutionizing manufacturing processes, creating the possibility for small manufacturing enterprises to be established and operated virtually anywhere, including Tribal communities. Often called the 4th Industrial Revolution, advanced manufacturing involves a combination of information, automation, computation, software, sensing and networking technologies.
Advanced manufacturing technologies are providing opportunities for Tribally-based enterprises to participate in this rapidly evolving area of economic activity. TCUs are well-positioned to support Tribal engagement in advanced manufacturing not only through technical training in the operation and advanced manufacturing equipment, but by providing students a career pathway to computer science, robotics, engineering, business administration and other workforce areas needed to support a Tribal manufacturing enterprise.
Native FEWS Alliance
The Native FEWS Alliance is a major NSF-funded project that aims to significantly broaden the participation of Native American and underrepresented students in Food, Energy and Water Systems (FEWS) education and careers to address critical challenges facing their communities. The Alliance brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars from a wide range of disciplines and institutions to design and deploy place-based and experiential learning curricula that combine Indigenous ways of knowing with physical sciences and engineering methodologies. The primary motivation of the Native FEWS Alliance is the promotion of Tribal climate resilience, with a broad range of environmental impacts of climate change that are exacerbating food, energy, and water (FEW) insecurities that require effective solutions identified and implemented by Tribes and Tribal communities.
Native FEWS Alliance leadership:
Alice Agogino, Principal Investigator, University of California Berkeley
Karletta Chief, co-Principal Investigator, University of Arizona
Carrie Billy, co-Principal Investigator, AIHEC
State of the Current TCU CI
Foster and Share National Data Science Tools and Technology for TCU Faculty and Staff
Data science has become a foundational to performing research across STEM academic fields. AIHEC has made it a priority to ensure that students and faculty have access to data science training.
AIHEC is working with The Carpentries to bring accessible training in data science software and workflows to the TCUs. The Carpentries are well known for quality workshops and materials in foundational data science training. AIHEC is looking to host a TCU focused Software/Data Carpentry in January 2022, stay posted for additional details.
Data science is our bridge to research computing. When performing data science, there is a limit to what we can achieve on our personal laptops and desktop computers. When students and faculty need more computing resources for their work, the first place we look is Open Science Grid (OSG). OSG is a distributed high throughput computing platform that gives students and researchers access to a tremendous amount of computing power. OSG hosts regular events and workshops for users who are learning to use the platform and researchers looking to apply for grants.
STEM CoP
A meeting to share experiences with research, education, pedagogy and stay appraised of new projects and opportunities.
TCU STEM Community of Practice
The TCU STEM Community of Practice (STEM CoP) is hosted once every four weeks on curriculum and research focused topics. All Tribal College and University faculty are invited and welcome to attend.
The STEM CoP has these primary objectives:
- Showcase faculty research/project successes
- Share pedagogy within subject areas
- Facilitate discussions on curricula
- Spread awareness of upcoming & ongoing funding opportunities
Previous Discussion Topics
- Climate Science Research & Education