CC*IIE Campus Design - Internet2 Infrastructure

Northwest Indian College, Bellingham WA

Investigators

Abstract

This two-year project upgrades network capacity to the Northwest Indian College cyberinfrastructure, creating an Internet2-connected network space for scientific data at the main campus, and increasing the connectivity of extended campus locations to enable rural student participation in research projects. Changes include the addition of highly-available storage and database services as part of a scienceDMZ, the establishment of IPv6 connections capable of transmitting big data to and from partner institutions, and the integration of existing directory services with common federation services for access control. The associated increase in bandwidth also permits enhanced video telepresence to increase collaboration with partnering institutions and augment remote instruction between campuses. Northwest Indian College hosts atypical education and research opportunities because scientific inquiry at the school is pursued with an indigenous understanding of the planet. Because the students and faculty begin with unique questions, they produce unique data sets. This project enables that data to be shared with the larger research community. Likewise, giving students expanded access to the catalogs at partner institutions increases the number and scope of research and analysis opportunities in a number of fields, including marine biology and oceanography, botany, geology, and health and human services. The exchange of information is expected to foster knowledge seeking and innovation among students at Northwest Indian College, and present culturally-relevant education and research opportunities to Native students at other institutions.