UAF American Indian Science and Engineering Society earns national awards
February 10, 2015
By Leona Long
907-474-5086
2-9-2015
Lonny Strunk was almost back to his seat when he and the five other UAF students attending the 2014 American Indian Science and Engineering Society national conference were called back on stage again … and again.
“It was mind-blowing and unexpected that we would win that many awards,” said Strunk, a computer science major from Quinhagak, a community located on Kuskokwim Bay south of Bethel.
Amid flashing cameras and accolades, the Alaska Native students were asked, “What makes UAF’s chapter so remarkable?”
UAF dominated the AISES national chapter awards, winning three out of five awards at the national conference in November in Orlando, Florida. The chapter received the Recruitment and Retention, Chapter of the Year and Professional and Chapter Development awards. This marks the sixth time that UAF was awarded the Stelvio J. Zanin Distinguished Chapter of the Year Award at the national convention in November. UAF received the honor in 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2014.
“The key component to AISES is giving back to our community,” said co-president Stefan Weingarth, from St. Mary’s on the lower Yukon River. He has accepted a job as a petroleum engineer from Conoco Phillips after graduation. “Part of our shared Alaska Native culture is lightening the burden for others. It’s part of who we are.”
“AISES is an amazing organization,” added Jason Slats, a mechanical engineering student from Chevak, near Hooper Bay on the central Bering Sea coast. “You learn skills like networking and public speaking that you don’t learn in class. The time and effort you put into AISES returns to you exponentially.”
During the week, AISES members offer free tutoring to anyone who drops into the Rural Student Services Gathering Room in the Brooks Building. Subjects range from engineering to mathematics and sciences — any subject at which members feel adept enough to help other students. Co-president Jesstin Patterson, from Barrow on Alaska's North Slope, said the club has even offered tutoring in art.
AISES provides professional development before members become working professionals. They learn communication, leadership, networking and public speaking skills. During a recent biweekly chapter meeting, geology major Rachel Conley gave a presentation about her experience studying volcanoes on the big island in Hawaii. It pays off. Almost all members have job offers before they graduate.
Members are encouraged to talk to children when they visit home. They return to their communities and visit the K-12 schools they attended only a few years previously to share their own stories. UAF’s AISES members now follow in the footsteps of the college students from their communities who encouraged them to strive for higher education.
“We believe that Alaska Natives are underrepresented among the success stories and leaders in rural communities,” said Patterson, a petroleum engineering student. “AISES members believe that we can overturn those low numbers by going back to provide an example of success. We tell them that college and making the transition from their village to college isn’t as hard as it seems. They don’t have to feel alone, because there are people and organizations that are here to help.”
They may be hundreds of miles from home, but, for AISES members, their villages are never far away. When they come to UAF in the fall, many members bring coolers filled with traditional foods from their summer subsistence hunting and fishing to share at club potlucks for a taste of home. These events feature a smorgasbord of traditional foods, such as caribou, beluga whale, salmon, halibut, moose and muktuk. AISES members' strong sense of unity helps them feel at home, whether they are subsistence hunting or fishing together, judging a local school science fair or tutoring other UAF students.
“We hold ourselves to a high standard of excellence,” said Patterson. “Members dedicate a lot of their time to AISES and helping others. We don’t ask our members to contribute their subsistence foods or time. Giving back and sharing helps strengthens the fabric of our community and makes AISES stand out.”
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Visit UAF's AISES Chapter on Facebook or contact Leona Long, marketing outreach coordinator, UAF Interior-Aleutians Campus, at lclong2@alaska.edu.
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