Centering Native Americans in the NSF INCLUDES Network

As the nation celebrates Native American Heritage Month, the Hub is showcasing NSF INCLUDES-funded projects that center Native American communities across the country in STEM education and careers. Many of these projects are led by or partner with Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs).

This is the first of a series blog posts exploring how institutions influence changes in systems that create more equitable outcomes for students and learners from minoritized populations, including TCUs and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs).   

The NSF INCLUDES National Network hosts an Indigenous STEM Affinity Group, where researchers and practitioners can share ideas, challenges, and work together to build a movement. The Affinity Group focuses on specific areas of interest for the Native community, including culturally competent curriculum in STEM learning, the challenges of virtual learning in highly rural and underserved regions, and exploring how TCUs in particular are changing systems, mindsets, and representation of the Native community within the higher education landscape.    

Tribal Colleges were first established in the 1960s by tribal governments ─today they are a vibrant network of 37 colleges serving 75 locations and more than 100,000 in academic and community-based programs annually. The educational programs at TCUs embrace Native American culture, languages and traditions, while providing quality education and holistic services to their communities. TCUs generally work to ensure sovereign tribal nations have the workforce and entrepreneurs to preserve water, land, and place for generations to com

The following is a list of former and current NSF INCLUDES-funded projects that center STEM opportunities in education and careers for Native Americans, including Native Alaskans and Hawaiians:

Current Projects

• NSF INCLUDES Planning Grant: Developing a Collaborative Infrastructure for Educating STEM Undergraduate Students who are Neurodiverse Learners 
• NSF INCLUDES Planning Grant: A Collaboration of Tribal Colleges, Professional Organizations and Four-Year Degree-Granting Universities to Advance Native American Students in STEM 
• Geoscience Alliance Research Coordination Network–Broadening Participation of Native Americans in the Geosciences 
• NSF INCLUDES DDLP: American Indian Traditional Science Experience 
• NSF INCLUDES Alliance: Broadening Career Pathways in Food, Energy, and Water Systems with and within Native American Communities (Native FEWS Alliance) 
• Collaborative Research Cultivating Indigenous Research Communities for Leadership in Education and STEM – CIRCLES Alliance 
• Collaborative Research: NSF INCLUDES Alliance: STEM Core Expansion 

Former projects

• NSF INCLUDES: Collaborative Research: Integrating Indigenous and Western Knowledge to Transform Learning and Discovery in the Geosciences
• NSF INCLUDES DDLP: Wabanaki Youth in Science (WaYS) Program to Bridge inclusion in Post-Secondary Education Through the Sciences Learn more in this blog post.