Worldwide, approximately 370 million Indigenous people live in over 90 countries. Although, Indigenous people are only approximately 5% of the world population, they represent 90% of the cultural diversity and hold 20% of the land that maintains 80% of the world's remaining biodiversity. However, Indigenous people often lack access to energy, water, and food infrastructure. For example, 14% of U.S. Native American households lack access to electricity. Developing technical solutions to FEWS challenges requires an understanding of Indigenous societies, knowledges, governance, and culture and the ability to work effectively in these contexts. This talk will focus on a NSF funded graduate research training program entitled Indigenous Food, Energy, and Water Security and Sovereignty or Indigi-FEWSS. The vision of Indigi-FEWSS is to develop a diverse workforce with intercultural awareness and expertise in sustainable food, energy, and water systems (FEWS), specifically through the design of fit-for-purpose water and controlled environment agricultural (CEA) technologies to address the lack of safe water, energy, and food security in Indigenous communities. The overarching goal is to provide a unique, on-site research, and training opportunity for masters and PhD students that bridges engineering, social, and physical sciences. We combine classwork, internships, teaching, and community interactions to enable trainees to tackle critical real world FEWS problems, with an understanding of the cultures and sovereignty of Indigenous peoples.

Presentation Slides: Training STEM graduate students to work in Indigenous Communities to co-solve FEWS challenges (Acrobat (PDF) 16MB Jul15 20)