Southern Research Station Supports Native American Graduate Students
Co-points of contact (POCs) from the Southern Research Station (SRS) Eastern Threat Center and Integrating Human and Natural Systems units responded to tribal needs as part of ongoing efforts of the federal-tribal trust responsibility for protecting tribes’ economic, ecological, and cultural interests. When the Intertribal Timber Council (ITC) recently selected five students to receive Native American Natural Resource Scholarships, these POCs were among the Forest Service Research and Development (R&D) contacts provided in the students’ scholarship award letters. Following the notifications about their scholarships, student recipients networked with these and other Forest Service R&D scientists within their field of expertise and/or study region who can assist the students with project development, methodology, analysis, etc. The scholarship opportunity continues SRS’s work with tribal communities, alleviates some of the financial burdens on Native students, and supports the advancement of Native student scholars who could potentially be recruited for Forest Service R&D positions upon graduation. Robert Mangold, Station Director of the Pacific Northwest Research Station, has offered additional research and professional networking opportunities to support future scholarship recipients. A CompassLive article provides more information.
Right: Kim Yazzie, Navajo Nation, presents at the recent ITC Annual Timber Symposium. A student at Portland State University, Yazzie received an ITC research scholarship and is studying aquifer recharge and watershed response to climate change in the Upper Umatilla River sub-basin. Photo by Serra Hoagland, U.S. Forest Service.
Forest Service Partners/Collaborators: Pacific Northwest Research Station
External Partners/Collaborators: United South and Eastern Tribes; Intertribal Timber Council; American Indian Science and Engineering Society; various tribes
Contact: Serra Hoagland and John Schelhas
