Karletta Chief Presents on Tribal Mining Modules at Extension Conference

April 12, 2014

Dr. Karletta Chief, University of Arizona Superfund Research Program (UA SRP) Investigator and Extension Specialist, recently attended the Ninth Annual Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals Conference, May 18-22, 2014, in Sacramento, CA. The theme of the conference was “Golden Opportunities: The Role of Education and Community Engagement in Sustaining Natural Resources.” Chief spoke on the development and piloting of mining and environmental educational modules for Tribal Colleges during the Environmental Education Session.

Chief has been working with Community Engagement Core coordinator Denise Moreno Ramirez and a team of graduate students to develop and pilot the modules, which are based on the successful Promotora transferable training module series that has been developed by the UA SRP, but modified for a unique audience. The educational modules being developed for tribal colleges focus on environmental impacts of mining, remediation of mining wastes, and sociocultural impacts of mining. The independently-packaged units of study will incorporate traditional ecological knowledge with approaches that promote effective science learning for native students. Stay tuned - once finalized, the modules will be available on the UA SRP website!