Phase II: Magakata Woslolye Oaye (Cultivating Science into the Future)

Oglala Lakota College, Kyle SD

Investigators

Abstract

Phase Two of the OLC TCUP program, the Magakata Woslolye Oaye (Cultivating Science into the Future) project, builds upon the infrastructure and initiatives developed in Phase I to expand academic and professional development opportunities for students, faculty, and community members in areas of STEM. The vision of the Magakata Woslolye Oaye program is to develop a model to strengthen science leadership at Tribal Colleges. The three goals of the Magakata Woslolye Oaye program are to: 1. Train existing Oglala Lakota College STEM faculty to become Principal Investigators and leaders and increase the number of funded original research projects. 2. Use existing infrastructure and resources to improve academic coursework and student learning by incorporating localized original research projects and community based service-learning projects. 3. Adapt the existing commercial enterprise to a more sustainable socialized enterprise model. To reach these goals, three STEM faculty members will design a research project to answer an environmental question relative to the Pine Ridge reservation. Each faculty will serve as a team leader, recruit, and train four undergraduate students to work on the research team. In addition, they will serve as the project Principal Investigator and guide the team in writing a proposal to submit to a local review panel to receive project funding from the OLC Phase II program.