Large UA representation at 2023 AISES National Conference underscores the importance and commitment of supporting indigenous students in STEM

(Photo caption: Opening ceremony for the AISES College and Career Fair, the largest of its kind for Native American communities, tribes and Nations. Photo credit: Nina Sajovec)

What is the one conference to attend if you are an “IndigeNerd” or supporting indigenous students on their path to careers in STEM? Over 3,000 participants of the 2023 AISES National Conference held in Spokane, WA between October 18th and 21st would most likely agree that it was the one!

AISES is a national, nonprofit organization focused on substantially increasing the representation of Native peoples in STEM studies and careers. The annual AISES National Conference is the premier event for Indigenous STEM professionals and students from the U.S. and Canada, and as far away as Alaska and Hawaii. This three-day event focuses on furthering AISES mission by providing students and professionals access to career pathways, professional and leadership development, research, and networking that also meaningfully incorporates Indigenous culture. Highlights Include largest college and career fair for Native American communities, tribes and Nations, research competitions and student awards, multiple sessions, talking circles, networking opportunities, industry partner and university tours, opening and closing ceremonies including entertainment, traditional powwow and Indigenous artisan marketplace.

At this year’s conference, the University of Arizona (UA) had one of the strongest representations with a total of 53 attendees! In addition to 9 students and members of the UA AISES chapter, the UA was represented by UA Indigenous Resilience Center , UA Wyant College of Optical Sciences , UA Graduate College , UA College of Medicine – Phoenix and the Haury Program of the UA Arizona Institute for Resilience (AIR) which was also one of the sponsors of the conference. At the Haury booth at the college and career fair, you could also speak to representatives from nationally recognized programs that specifically support Native American students such as Native Student Outreach Access, and Resiliency (SOAR), the A Student’s Journey and Natives Who Code as well as representatives from Environmental Science Online and the Undergraduate Recruitment Admissions & New Student Enrollment with a fun raffle. Such strong representation of the University of Arizona at this conference is excellent especially in the light of the fact that the UA is recognized as one of the top three land-grant universities with by far the most support and programs for Native students and for the local tribes, per 2023 UC Davis Benchmarking Land- grant University Institutional Practices Report!

For the full story, please visit the UA NAAIR website: https://www.naair.arizona.edu/news/large-ua-representation-2023-aises-n…;