Mini-Grant Opportunities in the Geosciences for American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Student Chapters

American Indian Science And Engineering Society (Aises), Albuquerque NM

Investigators

Abstract

The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) is implementing a novel, micro-financing approach to broadening participation of Native American students in the geosciences. Through a competitive mini-grant process, AISES Student Chapters are developing and delivering community-based outreach and learning opportunities on geoscience topics for Native American urban and rural communities. There are currently 173 AISES Student Chapters nationwide and all are eligible to apply for the mini-grants during this two-year proof-of-concept award. Mini-grants in the amount of $3000-$7000 are being used by AISES Student Chapters to: 1) increase awareness and recruitment in the geosciences among Native American undergraduates and improve content knowledge in geoscience disciplines; 2) prepare students for successful careers in the geosciences by engaging then in professional development experiences requiring grantsmanship and project management; and, 3) educate students on how to share the relevance of geoscience knowledge with the public through Service Learning and Informal Science Education projects. This project directly serves the NSF goal of broadening participation in STEM disciplines and advancing the Directorate for Geosciences' strategic priority of increasing public Earth System Science literacy.