STEM Education in Civil and Environmental Engineering

FACULTY CONTACTS:
• Dr. Christopher Shearer,
  Assistant Professor

 

To promote sustainable water resource management on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Drs. Jennifer Benning, Scott Kenner and Foster Sawyer (GeolE) and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Environmental Protection Program partnered together on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) education grant for the protection of water resources on the reservation. This partnership represents an innovative co-management approach towards protection of water resources through education. A multi-tiered environmental education project was created with the aim of advancing critical watershed management components. Solutions were generated through sustainable localized adaptation strategy and provided for the integration of numerous organizations’ resources while facilitating accomplishment of each organization’s mission. As a result of this project higher-order technical watershed management processes been integrated to fill needs within the Oglala Sioux Tribe Non-Point Source management plan. 

Pre-engineering Collaboration with Oglala Lakota College (OLC)

This NSF supported project establishes collaborative offerings of gateway and bottleneck courses that occur in the first two years of engineering curricula coupled with hands-on laboratory and service learning experiences. Courses are being offered using a combination of lectures, laboratories, and online distant deliveries through the 11 OLC Centers on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The primary project objective is to increase recruitment and retention of Native American students in pre-engineering and engineering programs across South Dakota. Civil engineering, geological engineering, and environmental engineering fields are the focus of this pilot project. Curricula designed for the program include classroom instruction at OLC, South Dakota Mines, and SDSU, real world experiences through service learning projects, and extensive interaction with cultural and community leaders. Contact Dr. Foster Sawyer (Dept of Geology and Geological Engineering) for more information.

Pedagogy into Practice:  Teaching Environmental Design through the Native American Sustainable Housing Initiative

This NSF supported project establishes collaborative offerings of gateway and bottleneck courses that occur in the first two years of engineering curricula coupled with hands-on laboratory and service learning experiences. Courses are being offered using a combination of lectures, laboratories, and online distant deliveries through the 11 OLC Centers on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The primary project objective is to increase recruitment and retention of Native American students in pre-engineering and engineering programs across South Dakota. Civil engineering, geological engineering, and environmental engineering fields are the focus of this pilot project. Curricula designed for the program include classroom instruction at OLC, South Dakota Mines, and SDSU, real world experiences through service learning projects, and extensive interaction with cultural and community leaders. Contact Dr. Foster Sawyer (Dept of Geology and Geological Engineering) for more information.