Diana Dalbotten
Director of Diversity and Broader Impacts
University of Minnesota
Dr. Diana Dalbotten works for the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota as the director of Diversity and Broader Impacts. The focus of her work has been on broadening participation of underrepresented students, and particularly Native Americans in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields. She collaborates with tribes in Minnesota and nationally to advance this work. Her work has been on understanding the practice of Community-Based Participatory Research (CPBR) on environmental issues and education in the geosciences. She has run programs that have supported over 200 students to do summer research at the University of Minnesota and with tribal communities since 2002 and directs the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) on Sustainable Land and Water Resources, a collaboration with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa; Salish Kootenai College, Montana; and the University of Minnesota. This National Science Foundation program is unique in being both tribally-focused and incorporating CPBR. An amazing part of this journey has been learning about the Ojibwe culture and about manoomin (wild rice), the amazing “food that grows on the water” in our Minnesota lakes.
Diana also collaborates with Fond du Lac on the gidakiimanaanwigamig (Our Earth Lodge) Math and Science Camps, which have run since 2002. Hundreds of student participants have participated in gidakiimanaaniwigamig which focuses on graduation from high-school, college-readiness, and academic excellence. Working with strong women from the community, including Holly Pellerin, Lowana Greensky, Courtney Kowalczak, Cynthia Welsh, Rachel Breckenridge, Leslie Bucar and many others, has been an amazing, grounding, and knowledge-gaining experience that changed her life and her career.
Diana founded and directs the Geoscience Alliance (GA), a national alliance for broadening participation of Native Americans in the geosciences. The GA is more of a family than a professional society, and has brought many new friends and colleagues into her life, most notably her co-directors Antony Berthelote and Nievita Bueno Watts. The journey of the Geoscience Alliance began in 2007 with sessions at professional conferences, and has grown to encompass hundreds of participants. We will host our 4th national conference in 2019. The best thing about the Geoscience Alliance is watching all of the passionate, committed, intelligent students who are progressing in their careers, earning degrees, and going on to change the world.
Cross Cutting Focus Areas
Indigenous Knowledges
Marco Hatch (Samish Indian Nation)
Western Washington University
Marco Hatch is an Associate Professor of Environmental Science at Western Washington University and is a member of the Samish Indian Nation. As a marine ecologist, he helps Native American students gain greater access to STEM opportunities while respecting coast Salish tribal people, landscapes, and seascapes. Dr. Hatch’s work includes helping Native American students make the transition to graduate school in the geosciences, specifically connecting Northwest Indian College students to Western’s Huxley College of the Environment. His work focuses on a partnership between NWIC and Western called Partnerships in Geoscience Education, funded by a five-year $1.65 million National Science Foundation grant. This partnership also provides funding for NWIC graduates to pursue a master’s degree in Environmental Science.
At WWU he has created a wonderfully diverse lab charged with preparing the next generation of environmental scientists and leaders through fostering respect for Indigenous knowledge and providing students with a solid background in scientific methods. His research focuses on the nexus of people and marine ecology, centered on Indigenous marine management.
Dr. Hatch is also involved in a developmental model called the Coastal Almanac that will put in place a structure for Pacific Northwest coastal communities and tribal nations to collect, analyze, and archive data to help answer scientific questions important to them. Dr. Hatch is also a mentor for the SACNAS club at Western as well as a mentor for NASU (Native American Student Union). Prior to his work at Western Washington University, Dr. Hatch served as the Director of the Salish Sea Research Center at Northwest Indian College.
Programs supporting local Native American tribes
and Indigenous students pursuing STEM fields
The Geoscience Alliance (GA) is a national alliance of individuals committed to broadening the participation of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and people of Native Hawai’ian ancestry in the geosciences. Its members are faculty and staff from Tribal Colleges, universities, and research centers; Native elders and community members; industry and corporate representatives; students (K12, undergraduate, and graduate); formal and informal educators; and other interested individuals.