Students
Took Part In Summer Research Program For Undergrads
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Native
American undergrads Kylie Ray Lee (clockwise from left), Naomi
Redfield, Racquel White, Trisheena Kills Pretty Enemy, Dominique
Pablito, and Chelsea Draper took part in SEAS' Summer Research
Experience program. (Kris Snibbe - Harvard Staff Photographer)
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A pre-veterinary student
used drones to study beaver dams in Montana. A senior majoring in
chemical engineering researched how to make nontoxic batteries.
A sophomore in chemistry got a taste of nanomedicine. Three other
students examined bacteria from the gut microbiome as part of research
to improve diagnostic tests of infectious diseases.
Their projects were different,
but the six students who took part in the Research Experiences for
Undergraduates program at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of
Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) had more than one thing
in common. All of them were young, female, Native American scientists.
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Christoffer
Abrahamsson (left) of George Whitesides' lab observes as Racquel
White drops solution into a test tube.
(Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer)
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The summer program brings
students from universities and colleges across the country to perform
cutting-edge research in fields such as biomaterials and nanoscale
science and engineering, under the auspices of the National Science
Foundation. The 10-week program has grown over the years, said Kathryn
Hollar, director of community engagement and diversity outreach
at SEAS, and the application process is very competitive. This year,
700 students applied for 70 slots, six of which were taken by Chelsea
Draper, Trisheena Kills Pretty Enemy, Kylie Ray Lee, Naomi Redfield,
Dominique Pablito, and Racquel White, who together made up the largest
group of Native American students yet be enrolled.
Increasing the number
of Native American participants in the program is an effort that
the School takes seriously, said Hollar. "Science and engineering
are better off when we have people of different cultures and perspectives,
because it leads to a richer set of ideas and questions," she said.
"This is also a social justice issue. We have very few Native American
scientists and engineers, and it's our responsibility to provide
opportunities for all groups of people that have been historically
excluded."
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Kills
Pretty Enemy drops solutions into divided sections of a Petri
dish.
(Kris Snibbe - Harvard Staff Photographer)
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Building partnerships
with tribal colleges and universities in places with large Native
American populations has helped increase their representation in
the research program. Its significance is not lost on Jason Packineau,
community coordinator at the Harvard University Native American
Program.
"There are many talented
Native students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math)
throughout the country," said Packineau. "Hopefully, having these
students here will increase the visibility that Harvard is an option
for them."
Having more than one
Native-American in the program helps keep the students from feeling
isolated, alienated, and like token figures, said Packineau. "They're
not singled out as the only Native participant in the program. [They]
arrive with a set of peers who have the potential to provide support
and share the same background, and, finally, leave Harvard connected
to individuals whom they'll continue to interact with in future
academic and professional settings."
On a recent afternoon,
the three students who worked on the bacterial tests study sat in
a classroom with their mentors, postdoctoral fellows Chris Abrahamsson
and Michael Fink, members of the George Whitesides research group.
The students were able
to work in Whitesides' lab as they studied how to separate bacteria,
mostly E. coli and Staphylococcus, using different combinations
of aqueous solutions. Kills Pretty Enemy, a microbiology senior
at Montana State University, said the work was exhilarating and
helped her think more independently.
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Michael
Fink (right) holds up a test tube following a spin in the
centrifuge.
Kris Snibbe - Harvard Staff Photographer
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"This was exploratory
research," said Kills Pretty Enemy, a member of the Apsaalooke Crow
and the Hunkpapa Lakota tribes. "There wasn't a protocol. We had
to make it as we went. It taught me how to think on my own. It was
fantastic."
Being surrounded by other
science students was one of the program's highlights for Lee, a
chemistry major at the University of Utah and a member of the Cowlitz
tribe. "I was able to talk to other science majors without having
to explain what is material science or what is nanomaterial fabrication,"
she said. "Instead, we all talked about our own research. It was
really awesome."
Pablito, a senior studying
chemistry and biology at the University of Utah and a member of
the Zuni tribe, missed several cultural events and powwows held
at home over the summer. But it was worthwhile. "It was cool to
see how other people do research," she said. "It was also great
to experience other cultures and see new cities."
White, a chemical engineering
student at Navajo Technical University, said she will miss Whitesides'
lab, but now plans to apply to grad school. "I have always wanted
to come to MIT or Harvard," she said.
Draper and Redfield,
too, now plan to go to grad school. "It was a door-opener," said
Draper, a chemical engineering student at the University of New
Mexico and member of the Navajo nation. Pre-vet Redfield, a Montana
State University junior from the Crow reservation, called it "a
dream come true."
"Now I want to learn
more to help my community," she said. "I'd like to do research on
buffalos, elks, mountain lions, and all the wildlife we have in
the reservation to help protect it as much as possible."
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