G. Padmanabhan, professor of civil engineering; Robert Pieri, professor of mechanical engineering; and Carol Davis, a staff member from the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Tribal Colleges Liaison, co-wrote the paper, “A Unique University-Tribal College Collaboration to Strengthen Native American Pathways to STEM Education.” It was accepted for presentation and publication in the Proceedings of the 118th American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exhibition in Vancouver, Canada, June 26-29.

Another paper, “A Tribal College-University Collaborative Model for Tribal College Student Research Mentoring,” co-written by Padmanabhan and Davis, also has been accepted for presentation and publication. Padmanabhan also will moderate an “Understanding our Students” session at the conference.

The first paper summarizes the authors’ experiences with the university-tribal college collaborative effort during the past 11 years as it has matured into the current program, Nurturing American Tribal Undergraduate Research and Education (NATURE) funded by the National Science Foundation and ND EPSCoR. They discuss how it started, where it stands now and lessons learned.

The second paper discusses the authors’ experience with university-tribal college collaborative student research mentoring, a component activity of NATURE.

Padmanabhan and Pieri are longstanding members of the American Society for Engineering Education. The organization has a worldwide membership of approximately 13,990 people committed to furthering education in engineering and engineering technology and promotes excellence in instruction, research, public service and practice.