Achievement

Tribes, Sustainability and Bioenergy course and journal club. Winter courses developed with IGERT funding provide students with a double perspective of native peoples in the US: (1) a historical view of Native Americans on the land now known as the US and how this land was forceably removed from native hands, and, (2) a contemporary view of Native American tribes as sovereign nations with sophisticated legal apparatus to interface with US government, and with sophisticated approaches to managing their lands for multiple outcomes including economic gain, environmental conservation and sustainability of cultural values/practices. Tribal leaders are frequent guest lecturers. Difficult questions and hard answers reveal significant cultural differences. Research on bioenergy and its limits/potential is reviewed. Sustainable bioenergy is discussed within the context of tribes and their particular land management practices and unique political contexts.