In embarking on the seventh annual Professional of the Year Awards, AISES, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, announces three recipients of this prestigious designation.  The Most Promising Engineer/Scientist Award will be presented to Dr. Karletta Chief at the 32nd AISES Annual National Conference in Albuquerque, which will run November 11 through the 13.

As part of the award, Chief participated in a panel discussion titled: Can Indian Girls Do Science? (download audio file). AISES sponsored the conversation to explain the many ways that Native Americans in general, and women in particular, are blazing exciting paths in science and technology.

Chief is currently a post doctoral fellow in the Division of Hydrologic Sciences at DRI in Las Vegas, Nevada, who is originally from Black Mesa, Arizona and grew up on the Navajo Nation.

She is a first generation college graduate, having earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil and environmental engineering from Stanford University in 1998 and 2000. In 2000-01, she served as Miss Navajo Nation and represented her people as a leader, role model, and environmental advocate.

As a National Science Foundation Doctoral Fellow, she received her Ph.D. in Hydrology and Water Resources in the School of Engineering at the University of Arizona (UA) in 2007, with a minor in soil, water, and environmental science.
Her current research interests include the spatial and temporal characterization of soil air permeability and hydraulic properties of arid soils to improve our understanding of the dynamic processes that control the movement of air, water, CO2, and contaminants in the soils.

AISES’ Professional of the Year Awards considers the longstanding contributions of Native American in the science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, while commemorating outstanding contemporary accomplishments by American Indians and Alaska Natives as leaders, innovators and role models in STEM.

“The Professional of the Year Awards is a competitive, juried process,” says Pamala Silas, AISES CEO. “It’s one of AISES’ cornerstone activities for American Indians and Alaska Natives for as it applauds excellence, it also recognizes the dynamic cohesion between indigenous ways of knowing and the evolving technological challenges of today’s world.”

The highlight of AISES event offerings, the National Conference is a one-of-a-kind event and the largest American Indian National Conference, convening participants from the U.S. and Canada. The AISES National Conference attracts high school and college students, teachers, professional members, exhibitors, and friends and features professional development, networking opportunities, student presentations, a career fair unique in Indian Country for the scale and scope of participants, and traditional events. The theme of the 2010 Conference is “Power Up!” and should attract some 2,000 participants.

AISES is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to substantially increase the representation of American Indian and Alaskan Natives in engineering, science and other related technology disciplines. Since 1977, AISES has worked to remove barriers to fuller representation and participation in the STEM disciplines among Native people – as students, professionals, mentors, and leaders. AISES’ extensive’ membership network includes over 2,900 active members, 13,000 alumni, 1040 Sequoyah (lifetime) Fellows, 173 College Chapters, and 200 Pre-College Affiliates – members from over 200 Native Nations represented in all.

More information is available at the AISES website: www.aises.org.