Effective Multi-Institutional Partnerships to Broadening Participation in Earth System Sciences: The Haskell-NCAR Environmental Assessment Training

The Haskell-NCAR Environmental Assessment Training is a one-week program dedicated to engaging Native American students in the Earth system sciences. It was created through a partnership between Haskell Indian Nations University, the University of Kansas, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and is currently in year two of a five-year grant. The training is hosted at NCAR in Boulder, CO, and functions as a capstone for the HERS Institute, which is an 8-week summer science research internship program at Haskell Indian Nations University for Native American and Native Hawaiian students from around the country. By bringing Indigenous and scientific communities closer together, the program aims to advance student understanding in the Earth system sciences in an effort to increase the number of Native students continuing to graduate study in STEM fields.

This summer’s training included research on severe weather and its impact on communities, understanding data collection, and data analysis. Students began the week with lectures and instruction from local scientists and faculty about the March 2019 bomb cyclone, a severe weather event that impacted a large region of the country. Interns formed small teams to investigate the bomb cyclone by analyzing Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) data collected from five different locations around where cyclogenesis of the cyclone occurred. To better understand the data collection process, the interns built a meteorological tower at NCAR’s Marshall Field site and collected surface data with handheld anemometers. At the end of the week, the five groups of interns presented the results of their case study to their mentors and peers.

Other important components of the training included a day of hydrological fieldwork, in which the students explored the impacts of mining on water runoff along the Rocky Mountain Front Range. The students also participated in a poster session at NCAR where they presented the summer research they completed prior to arriving in Boulder. This opportunity allowed the students to present their work while also networking with NCAR scientists and summer interns. A round-table listening session was conducted so that the students, along with a small group of NCAR scientists, could share insights about climate change impacts, severe weather, citizen science, and data sovereignty.

This presentation will provide an overview of the Haskell-NCAR Environmental Assessment Training, the goals of the program, as well as the observed outcomes from the past two years. We will discuss how institutional partnerships involving a minority-serving institution, a major university, and a national research center can be mutually beneficial to all parties and could provide a successful model to increasing minority participation in the Earth system sciences.