Title:  Decolonizing STEM Education for Indigenous Youth

Abstract:

We will be speaking about ways in which to work respectfully with American Indian/Alaska Native tribes and communities in service to youth, bringing together Cultural knowledge, technologies, and ways of knowing with those of Western STEM.  We will highlight a new astrobiology curriculum we are co-developing that brings together Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge of our origins, and also parallels the Native cultural practice of “journey” with the search for life on other worlds.