Montana State University researchers have received a $282,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a new approach to solving issues on Montana’s Indian Reservations.
MSU researchers are planning to hire eight tribal college students who are passionate about developing solutions related to health, food and agriculture. Those students will engage in a new program called PATHS, or “Pathways to Agriculture and Native Foods, Tribal Health and Sovereignty.”
The paid internship will take place over a period of 14 months and the interns will work at projects based in Montana and Washington, D.C. Interns will receive job training and mentoring from tribal leaders and community innovators along with the MSU PATHS team.
The core members of the PATHS team are Dr. Holly Hunts, an associate professor of consumer economics; Dr. David Sands, a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology; Dr. Ed Dratz, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Dr. Florence Dunkel, an associate professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and Pathology; and Claire Sands Baker, a longtime nonprofit advisor.
The program attempts to improve and assist Montana communities through three components: research, teaching and outreach. “We are seeking more effective ways for Montana’s Land Grant University to help support and inspire Native American students to become leaders in their communities and to find creative ways to deal with problems their communities face,” Hunts said.
There are 37 Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) across the nation, including Montana State. In a study done in 2002, Native Americans represented fewer than 1 percent of all students enrolled in college; most attended two-year institutions—normally within the tribal college system, according to the 2005-2006 Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac.
Typically, TCUs are underfunded. They receive funds through the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 1978(TCCUAA) and the only federal funding TCUs can receive goes toward Native students. The USDA grant will help non-Native and Native MSU students earn money as well as gain experience researching public health and environmental problems in their communities.
