Chris Deschene, director of DOE’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, top left, and U.S. Bureau of Indian Education Superintendent Casey Sovo, top right, work on a STEM activity created by the Science of Sport using basketball to demonstrate statistics to students.

Junita Turner, with EM’s Office of Human Capital, presents a report during a breakout session of the meetings on developing a nationwide STEM initiative for Native American youth.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.EM is helping create a new nationwide initiative to engage Native American youth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and careers.

   EM recently met with the offices of Economic Impact and Diversity and Indian Energy Policy and Programs to plan the initiative and discuss a potential partnership between DOE and Science of Sport, a non-profit organization that uses sports to promote an appreciation of science and mathematics in middle school students. Representatives from DOE’s Sandia, Los Alamos, and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories also participated in the meetings.

   “We were extremely pleased with the enthusiasm of the attendees at these meetings. EM’s mission necessitates a workforce possessing a strong STEM background. A national initiative to bring more Native American communities into STEM-related work is in line with our goals,” EM Tribal Affairs Director Albert Brandt Petrasek said. “The prospects for STEM-related careers at DOE sites and laboratories, many located near or adjacent to tribal lands, are abundant. We want to ensure tribal communities share in these opportunities.” 

   Representatives from Science of Sport, Santa Fe Indian School, New Mexico Public Education Department, Albuquerque Public Schools, University of New Mexico, Bureau of Indian Education, and the tribal communities of the Navajo Nation, Zia Pueblo and San Ildefonso Pueblo were among the meeting participants. They joined the DOE entities at the National Tribal Programs Center in New Mexico to discuss how DOE and its laboratories can develop a Native American STEM initiative in New Mexico and around the country. 

   Meeting participants discussed opportunities to target tribal communities for STEM education and careers, such as a focus on sports specific to tribes and their cultures. They also considered the challenges, such as limited access to technology and a lack of transportation to after-school programs.

   The possible public-private partnership with Science of Sport would engage tribal youth in the southwest region of the U.S. in STEM education through the use of athletics and an accompanying curriculum. Science of Sport representatives explained how their program can contribute to academic success, especially in minority communities.

   Petrasek and Junita Turner with EM’s Office of Human Capital focused on how EM can leverage its existing programs for interns, recent graduates, and others to help expand STEM education and careers in Native American communities.

   “In addition to assuring that Native Americans are included in the many STEM opportunities that exist at DOE sites and laboratories, especially those that are in close proximity to the communities, this effort also affords EM increased opportunities to continue to diversify its workforce and address the projected short- and long-term retirements,” Turner said.

   The meetings follows commitments made by the Obama Administration and Secretary Ernest Moniz at the DOE-hosted National Tribal Energy Summits in December 2014 and September 2015. Tribal leaders and Secretary Moniz discussed STEM education and career needs in the Native American community.