Each candidate for the SACNAS Board of Directors was provided five questions from members and asked to select three to which they would respond. Responses were to be kept to 200 words.

4. If elected, how would you support or expand SACNAS Native American programming? What connections, relationships, and experiences from the Native American communities could you contribute to SACNAS?

The following candidates chose to respond to this question:

• Gilbert John
• Ernest Marquez
• Christopher Andronicos
• Elma Gonzalez
• Donna Nelson
• Rodolfo Jimenez
• Nazune Menke

If elected, I hope to expand Native American programming by proposing a regional tribal SACNAS meeting where local and national Native American issues can be addressed. I was born and raised on the Navajo Reservation and my connection with my tribe has given me a sense of community with all Native American tribes. My connection with Native communities is best represented by my invited visits to speak at several reservations (Navajo, Salish Kootenai, Pawnee) to encourage young Native Americans to obtain advanced degrees in science, and to convey the message that these degrees are achievable and worthwhile. I also feel my time served on advisory boards for different Native American training programs at major universities and tribal colleges has allowed me to meet and discuss with students and tribal leaders issues related to education and community involvement. Finally, I feel my time served on review panels for NIH and NSF minority training programs has allowed me to convey the concerns of tribal communities to scientists who have never set forth on an Indian reservation. I believe my experiences with Native communities can be of value to SACNAS, as its moves forward with initiatives to increase Native American participation in all of SACNAS’s activities. In addition, I believe the Native American membership has the potential to grow and I see Native Americans dramatically increasing the growth of SACNAS.

I do support and will work to expand our current Native American (NA) programming. We need to work with NA communities to increase their participation in SACNAS activities, including greater participation in its leadership. The NA community should have a greater voice in developing our future scientists. I hope to work with the existing efforts such as the Synapse Program and continue its development and outreach efforts. My own background in the development of NA scientists is based on my career at the National Institutes of Health, where I served as Branch Chief, Minority Biomedical Research Support program, and as Associate Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Director of the Offices for Special Populations and Rural Mental Health. I have visited and worked with many Native American communities and their representatives in my career. I have also garnered multi-source support for program at Harvard Medical School in which cohorts of high school students from various American Indian and Hawaiian groups were brought to Harvard for a 3-week experience in mental health, drug addiction and neuroscience across the country. I believe this experience will be of value in developing SACNAS’ future plans.

I am very concerned about the impacts of resource development and global change on Native communities. For instance, here in New York, water resources are of critical importance to Native communities around the Finger Lakes region. New technologies have been developed to extract natural gas in this area, which use horizontal drilling and hydrofracture. These technologies are water intensive and have the potential to be a source of water pollution. On the other hand, natural gas provides an energy resource that has a lower development impact in than open pit mining for tar sands or coal, and has a much lower footprint in terms of CO2 emissions when burned for fuel. Native communities need to be well informed of the science and engineering behind these critical issues so that they can best position themselves to minimize negative environmental impacts and maximize potential economic benefits. The SACNAS National Conference provides an excellent venue to highlight research on resource development, environment, and global change, and how these issues impact our communities. Through such activities, SACNAS can become a key resource for Native communities seeking advice on scientific issues.

I believe that the SACNAS Board is highly committed to these goals. What we are missing are ideas that more appropriately engage the existing problems. Native American students need to be exposed to better science teaching and culturally appropriate and sensitive curricula that can inspire the K-12 Native student to aspire to careers in science. SACNAS is probably not the best direct means to that end. However, through SACNAS’ greater development of partnerships and initiatives, the Board can encourage tribal leaders to speak out to the D of Ed, and other funding bodies to develop the structures and funding mechanisms to make this happen. I will be happy to support any such efforts that come before the Board.

Sustainability topics and alternative energy are currently very popular and are being included in programming of majority organizations. These topics could be included more in SACNAS programming, and they would be of great interest to Native Americans. A business case for diversity is just now being made for the presence of women on boards of major corporations; data reveal that Fortune 500 companies with women on the boards are more profitable. Companies with a higher proportion of women on their management teams are found to have the best financial performance. The explanation is that a more diverse board increases a company’s competitiveness by providing greater independence of opinions and initiatives. SACNAS members should prepare for similar results to be found or anticipated for minorities. We will be able to further this welcome attitude shift by volunteering for boards in order to contribute to companies desiring diverse opinions and ideas for increasing the number and quality of ideas, creativity, and innovation. Long distance communication workshops could help prepare for participation those of us who are not centrally located. Partnering with AISES similarly to MAES could be explored; I am an AISES Sequoyah Fellow and could facilitate this.

As Chicanos/Latinos the background where we come from is quite similar. But when it comes to knowing about our Native American brothers and sisters’ background, I feel as though we aren’t as informed as we should be. If elected I would propose that at the annual conference SACNAS include a seminar that gives members a more in depth look of the Native American community. These seminars could give a more in depth look to various tribes across North America. Telling us what the similarities and differences are between the tribes, as well as how the Native American community and Chicano/Latino community are similar.

Supporting Native American programming within SACNAS should be fostered through connections with other Native American professional and community organizations such as the American Science and Engineering Society. This relationship has already begun to be facilitated with upcoming joint conferences in the same way that MAES recently has been. Providing new locations for national and regional conferences that allow for new tribal communities to work with SACNAS is also an excellent way to expand SACNAS connections with Native Americans. As a member of two tribal communities, Athabascan from Alaska and Lumbee in North Carolina, I personally plan to support regional and/or national conferences in places such as these that have not previously been considered. Expanding our horizons to include East Coast and Pacific Northwest and other communities will enhance SACNAS capacity to grow and include more Native Americans.