Mentor: Stephanie Russo Carroll (AHTNA) and Jewell Cummins, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, Native Nations Institute and Collaboratory for Indigenous Governance

Skills Needed: 1) Comfortable speaking with institutions and professionals in multiple disciplines; 2) Organizational skills; 3) Ability to work independently with weekly or bi-weekly check-ins; 4) Knowledge with or willingness to learn how to work with Indigenous institutions and communities.

Skills Gained: Learn: 1) How to build relationships with Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations and communities; 2) How to create a platform and resources on Indigenous Data Governance principles; 3) the dynamics of working on a grant project with interconnected parts; and 4) building a foundation in Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance principles with how it interconnects across disciplines.

Details: The creation of a repository hub is part of a larger Rockefeller grant. For this portion of the grant, the student will aid in compiling documentation, resources, and references to aid in the collaboration between Indigenous communities and outside institutions/organizations holding Indigenous data regarding seeds as well as other cultural materials. The hub will be built on Indigenous Data Governance principles. The student will be working with Graduate Research Assistant Jewel Cummins under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Russo Carroll in compiling references and resources for the hub, reaching out to Indigenous and non-Indigenous institutions to collect protocols, policies, and documents, as well as analyzing surveys, documents, and other data for information to inform Indigenous Data Governance protocols and other principles.

Mentor: Torivio Fodder (TAOS PUEBLO), Indigenous Governance Program Manager, Udall Center/Native Nations Institute

Skills Needed: 1) Timeliness; 2) Attention to Detail; 3) Self-Starter; 4) Proactive; 5) Be Curious

Skills Gained: 1) Program Development; 2) Curriculum Development & Review 

Details: Get hands-on experience in academic programming and curriculum coordination! The Indigenous Governance Program (IGP) stands on the legacy of Morris K. Udall, who championed Native self-determination and Native self-governance throughout his 30 years in Congress. As an IGP Program Assistant, you will have the unique opportunity to engage in the practical development of Indigenous governance curriculum and the chance to participate in one of the most innovative Indigenous education programs in the world. The selected Scholar will meet regularly with the IGP manager, faculty and staff while exploring the link between IGP and Congressman Udall’s legislative vision for Indigenous communities, both in the United States and abroad.

Mentor: Ibrahim Garba (KARAI-KARAI), Senior Researcher, Udall Center/Native Nations Institute; Assistant Research Professor, College of Public Health

Skills Needed: 1) Curiosity; 2) Communication; 3) Teamwork.

Skills Gained: 1) Policy analysis; 2) Multidisciplinary collaboration.

Details: The Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance has been exploring how Indigenous Peoples are maintaining living relationships with their data both within their communities and at external institutions (e.g., universities, repositories, government agencies). We approach our work assuming that respectful treatment of data is not just the ethical or culturally appropriate thing to do, but also a legal standard to follow based on Tribal laws, national policy, and international agreements. Join us on your choice of several projects aimed at keeping Indigenous data connected, responsive, and beneficial to Indigenous Peoples. Day-to-day activities could include formatting and organizing documents, policy research and analysis and developing recommendations for data stewards. Detours and rabbit holes strongly encouraged!

Mentor: Andrea K. Gerlak, Director, Udall Center; Research Professor, Environmental Policy Programs, Udall Center; Professor, School of Geography, Development and Environment

Skills Needed: 1) Team work; 2) Writing; 3) Research; 4) Verbal communication; 5) Collegiality

Skills Gained: Refinement and improvement of the skills listed above.

Details: Work on a $1.2M-dollar research project to help shape the future of agrivoltaics! Agrivoltaics refers to the simultaneous use of land for growing crops and collecting solar energy. When plants are grown in the shade provided by solar panels, agriculture can flourish in previously underdeveloped spaces while solar installations benefit from the cooling effect of plant life. This project involves coordinating with a larger team working on agrivoltaics in Arizona. As a Program Assistant under Dr. Gerlak, you will participate in innovative research on renewable energy that also touches on agriculture development and practices, as well as recent water constraints in Arizona. Your work will also involve engaging with stakeholders in these sectors to better understand challenges and opportunities for the deployment of agrivoltaics in Arizona, helping to organize an in-person event and supporting the team's research efforts.

Mentor: GINA GILSON, Research Scientist in Environmental Policy Programs, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy

Skills Needed: 1) Time management skills; 2) Interest in working on a team; 3) Written communication; 4) Active listening skills; and 5) Interest in qualitative analysis

Skills Gained: Refinement and improvement of the skills listed above.

Details: The Colorado River Basin is facing a crisis. This vital waterway is the lifeblood for millions of people and vast ecosystems across the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, yet it faces unprecedented threats from prolonged droughts, climate change and over-allocation. There is an urgent need for researchers to investigate the transitions that are underway, and to generate practical insights to inform decision-making. As a Research Assistant on this project, you will have a unique opportunity to join a wider team of researchers working to understand what drives decision-making in the Colorado River Basin. Your work will contribute to ongoing research efforts related to stakeholder engagement, collaborative governance processes and sustainability.

Mentor: Ladd Keith, Faculty Research Associate, Environmental Policy Programs, Udall Center; Assistant Professor of Planning in the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture

Skills Needed: 1) Time management; 2) Organization; 3) Collaboration with a team; and 4) Ability to work independently.

Skills Gained: 1) Literature review; 2) Policy analysis; and 3) Stakeholder engagement.

Details: Explore innovations in heat planning, policy and governance in the U.S.! Heat is the number-one weather-related cause of death in the U.S. and is an increasing risk, particularly for marginalized communities, due to climate change and the urban heat island effect. Despite this, heat policy and governance are less developed than policies and governance for other climate hazards such as drought, flooding, sea level rise and wildfire. As a Program Assistant under Dr. Keith, you will have the unique opportunity to explore the emerging area of heat policy and governance in the U.S. through work with an interdisciplinary research team on a variety of research projects and other engagement opportunities that reach stakeholders at the local, national and international levels.

Mentor: GEMMA SMITH, Assistant Research Professor, Environmental Policy Programs, Udall Center; Assistant Professor in the School of Government and Public Policy

Skills Needed: 1) Attention to detail; 2) Interest in (local) public policy and government; 3) Strong language and writing skills; 4) Experience with GIS/ text analysis/ data science a plus; 5) Experience with qualitative research a plus.

Skills Gained: 1) Qualitative data coding and text analysis; 2) Understanding of public policy and governance processes; 3) Basic data science depending on student interest and ability; 4) Writing for public and professional audiences.

Details: Learn how to work with big data to help local communities! The chemical group known as PFAS, aka “forever chemicals”, is a pressing human and environmental health challenge. PFAS chemicals do not break down, bioaccumulate and are found in the blood of almost every person on Earth. Nevertheless, regulation and governance for this class of chemicals in the U.S. has been slow, fragmented and challenged by political conflicts at every level of government. Join our team working to use text as big data to understand how these challenges are playing out in local government bodies across the entire country. As an assistant on this project, you will receive mentorship from Dr. Smith, attend regular team meetings and learn how to clean and code transcripts of public meetings both qualitatively and quantitatively to identify key themes as local governments work to address PFAS in their communities. Depending on the skill set and interests of the selected scholar, there will be opportunities to write syntheses of thematic findings and/or work on GIS mapping of governance hotspots.

Mentor: RILEY TAITINGFONG (CHAMORU), Henry Luce Postdoctoral Researcher, Udall Center/Native Nations Institute

Skills Needed: 1) Understanding of Native American histories, cultures and Indigenous data sovereignty; 2) Awareness of data systems, ethics standards, policy and governance structures; 3) Strong writing, communication and interpersonal skills.

Skills Gained: 1) Understanding of data cycles and repositories; 2) Applying Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles to concrete action and practice; 3) Familiarity with the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance; 4) Experience working with an external organization or project team; 5) Experience collaborating with university researchers and faculty.

Details: Join an international collaboration of leading Indigenous Data Sovereignty experts to build an assessment tool for Indigenous Data Governance. This tool builds on the globally renowned CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance, which have been referenced by diverse entities from U.S. federal funding bodies and government agencies to the United Nations. 

The selected student will work with the members of the Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance and Global Indigenous Data Alliance to help create the CARE Criteria, a tool that will eventually help publishers, funders, repositories, researchers, universities and other data stewards measure and improve Indigenous Data Governance in their settings. As a collaborator on this project, the focus of your work will be coordinating meetings and workshops with a partner organization to pilot indicators that assess CARE implementation, refining indicators with feedback from the partner organization and in collaboration with the project team and writing up and presenting on your progress to our network of collaborators. This work is all about creating concrete change and action for Indigenous Data Sovereignty and your contributions will be key!

Mentor: Adriana Zuniga-Teran, Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy Programs, Udall Center; Assistant Professor, School of Geography, Development and Environment

Skills Needed: 1) Basic research; 2) Reading comprehension; 3) Written and Verbal Communication

Skills Gained: The selected student will learn the methodology for conducting a systematic literature review that can help them in any type of research project they pursue in the future. Other skills gained include: 1) Conducting searches on Scopus; 2) selecting papers using established criteria; 3) coding papers based on research questions; and 4) writing sections of a paper.

Details: Globalization has changed the way the production of goods and services happens around the world, moving industrialization and manufacturing to countries in the Global South that offer cheaper labor. Accordingly, rivers in many cities in the Global North are being revitalized -- from being centers of manufacturing, industrialization, and transportation of goods to being recreational amenities for urban residents. It becomes important to document how these transformations of rivers occur and who are the winners and losers in these transformations. The purpose of this study is to conduct a literature review and synthesize findings around these river revitalizations. This review can serve as the basis for future research that examines the impacts of river revitalization projects on vulnerable communities.