NEWS

Greetings and Happy New Year! First off I’d like to introduce myself. I am Chelsea Chee, the NM EPSCoR Diversity Outreach Specialist. I have spent many years working on and with tribal communities (mainly on the Navajo Nation and with young people) around climate change, global warming, and sustainability. So, I was attracted to NM EPSCoR’s work on renewable energy and goal of enhancing diversity. I am excited to be in this position and look forward to what else this opportunity will bring.

Second, the fall of 2013 marked the beginning of many things at NM EPSCoR. Here are some highlights:

• I was welcomed to NM EPSCoR at the beginning of fall and was tasked to promote and enhance diversity throughout EPSCoR project activities toward a goal of “50% female and underrepresented minority representation”. Thankfully I am part of a team that is working to achieve this, the Diversity Team.
• The Diversity Team collaboration began mid-Fall with the tremendous preparation and cooperation from Alice Loy and Phyllis Baca (Team co-leads). Made up of nine individuals of different ethnicities and genders from organizations throughout New Mexico, and representing 11 of 17 EPSCoR components, the Diversity Team holds true to their name. To date, the team has met a couple of times and has accomplished quite a bit with more successes to come this year.
• Also in 2013, I attended two conferences focusing on STEM – STEMtech in Atlanta, GA and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society’s (AISES) National Conference in Denver, CO. Both were great opportunities for networking, building relationships, and learning. Moreover, seeing hundreds of students, staff, faculty, and professionals gather around STEM was inspiring!
• Lastly, we are strengthening our relationship with two tribal colleges – Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) and Navajo Technical University (NTU). Selena Connealy and I visited SIPI in September, and Mary Jo and I visited NTU in December. We shared information about upcoming opportunities – summer student research, research equipment grants, summer faculty and student visualization modules, and entrepreneurship training – with both colleges. We will be visiting more tribal and community colleges in 2014.

Third, 2014 has us gearing up for a few things:

• The Diversity Team will soon have a webpage on the NM EPSCoR website to provide more information about the Team, team members, and resources.
• The Diversity Team will be outreaching to other NM EPSCoR project components, and creating and disseminating a Faculty/Student Mentor Plan template and a Diversity Strategic Plan, while working to reach the 50% diversity goal for our first year.
• I will be recruiting for NM EPSCoR activities at community and tribal colleges to encourage students, faculty, and entrepreneurs to take advantage of EPSCoR opportunities. Keep a look out for EPSCoR announcements and recruitment visits to your campuses.

Lastly, have a wonderful year!