Red Lake Nation College students take part in GEMscholars Program with Purdue University
Attend GEMscholar Symposium in Indiana
Three students from Red Lake Nation College, along with two from Bemidji State University, have been working on a project in partnership with Purdue University called the GEMscholars Program.
The students from Red Lake Nation College are Nikki Jourdain, Mikalanna Barrett and Lorene Lyons-Smith, and those from BSU were Christin May (from Red Lake) and Emma Jennings (from the Boise Forte Indian Reservation.)
It is the second year Red Lake Nation College and Purdue University have partnered for the GEMscholar Program, and this year, the group conducted research on earthworms on the Red Lake Indian Reservation.
These five students were also invited to Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana for the GEMscholar Symposium, held on Friday, October 5, 2007, and they were there for the University's Native American Educational and Cultural Center dedication ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 6. The center's creation was the result of a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the campuswide Mosaic initiative, which is the cornerstone for all multicultural educational projects at the university. "The center will facilitate new and current students' transition into the larger university culture while reinforcing the importance of maintaining meaningful connections to home, tribal communities and of creating a supportive student community," said its first director, Veronica Hirsch.
The Gemscholars Symposium serves as the culmination of this year's projects, providing the undergraduate students an opportunity to present their research findings.
The GEMscholars Program is a research partnership on Native Lands with a goal to increase the number of Native American students successfully pursuing graduate geoscience degrees.
Through the program, Native American undergraduate students conduct research that addresses environmental issues in their home community and introduces them to exciting career possibilities in the geosciences. They also gain valuable experience as they develop a unique research project under the guidance of mentors from Purdue University, Bemidji State University and Red Lake Nation College.
|
