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I-STEAM Pathways: Melding Mainstream Science, Indigenous Perspectives
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / July 10, 2024 / Enbridge University of Alberta program cultivat...
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I-STEAM Pathways: Melding Mainstream Science, Indigenous PerspectivesNORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / July 10, 2024 / EnbridgeUniversity of Alberta program cultivates student interest in environmental education through summer research internshipsThe University of Alberta may have one of the best summer gigs going.Forget office jobs. Since being launched in 2020, Indigenous students hired onto one of the research projects through the U of A's I-STEAM Pathways (I-STEAM) program could spend their summer studying water toxicity, regenerative agriculture, environmental policy or flood forecasting tools-just to name a few."Many of our interns are actually hired out of non-STEM-related fields of study," says Dr. Makere Stewart-Harawira, professor at Edmonton-based University of Alberta and original co-founder of the I-STEAM Pathways program. "They might be enrolled in a health or psychology program, but this internship offers an opportunity to explore an enormous variety of other fields in engineering, biology or agriculture."The I-STEAM program is the first of its kind in Canada, and is dedicated to giving Indigenous students the opportunity to engage in environmental research, ideally leading them to consider it as a future career path."There is a real call in both the research community and within Indigenous communities to increase the number of Indigenous people in positions of authority in environmental policy," says Dr. Stewart-Harawira.Open to students in their first year of undergraduate studies and upwards, I-STEAM matches students with carefully selected research projects and a dedicated mentor for a four-month paid internship over the summer.Last year, the program hired 18 students to environmental research projects, up from 16 in 2022. While the upward trend is encouraging, the program's ability to accept research proposals and facilitate summer internships is entirely donor dependent.In 2023, Alliance Pipeline donated $60,000 to the I-STEAM Pathways program as part of its commitment to communities. The funding facilitated internships for the program and contributed to research costs and student wages. After a 24-year span, Enbridge sold its ownership interest in Alliance to Pembina Pipeline Corporation in April 2024.The research projects are not just confined to labs-they often have real-world impact.Jordan Eleniak, a 2023 I-STEAM program participant ...