NATURE Program seeks faculty participation NATURE is an educational outreach program intended to increase participation of North Dakota Native American college and high school students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The acronym NATURE stands for Nurturing American Tribal Undergraduate Research and Education. The program is funded by the North Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ND EPSCoR). Components of the project include: a summer camp at NDSU for tribal college students and faculty, summer camps at the tribal colleges for high school students, and academic year Sunday academies at the tribal colleges for high school students. All activities of the program from conception to delivery are collaboratively developed by the tribal college faculty, Reservation high school teachers, and NDSU and UND faculty. Another component on research experience for the tribal college students has been added recently. In this activity, tribal college students work on their research projects on their campuses under the guidance of a tribal college faculty mentor and a university faculty mentor. These are semester or year-long projects. Imparting research skills to the students is the focus of this activity. Discovery may be additional benefit. The NATURE program is ushering in its fifth year, 2009–10. The NATURE team is currently in the process of developing lesson plans and other educational activities for the upcoming year. The activities generally focus on environment, energy, and emerging technologies. The NATURE program seeks additional faculty participation from NDSU and UND campuses in all of its activities. Other than monetary compensation, NATURE provides opportunities for the participating faculty to gain an understanding of the learning styles of Native American students. Interested UND faculty members may contact Mark Hoffmann at 777-2492 or by email at Markhoffmann@mail.und.nodak.edu Interested NDSU faculty members may contact David Givers 701-231-7516 or by email at David.Givers@ndsu.edu. -- Mark R. Hoffmann, Assistant Vice President for Research and Co-Project Director, ND EPSCoR, markrhoffmann@mail.und.nodak.edu, 701-777-2492