Student Research Projects
2024 Student Projects
I-STEAM 2024: Empowering Indigenous Youth
During the summer of 2024, Indigenous undergraduate interns from many communities completed another successful I-STEAM research cohort. From working with innovative technologies to monitor water quality and to improving the recycling of plastics, here is a look at some of the students’ hands-on experience in the field.
2023 Student Projects
I-STEAM Pathways 2023: Cultivating Change
During the summer of 2023, I-STEAM students embarked on several research journeys to enhance their understanding of the environment. From using data sets to assess ice jam flooding in Hay River to looking at ways to stabilize permafrost with microbes, here is a look at the cohort’s experiences.
Testimonial
“During my time in the I-STEAM program, I worked with Dr. Carol Frost surveying invertebrate diversity within local stormwater management ponds to assess the effectiveness of enhancement measures made by the City of Edmonton. The experience was rewarding because I got to see my educational training be directly applied to a job and I got to see the benefit of its impacts unfold within my own city. I appreciate the opportunities presented by the program to undergraduate students, and I feel the program has also helped me prepare for graduate school.
2022 Student Projects
I-STEAM Pathways 2022: Restoring Relationship with Land and Water Spirit
In 2022, 16 Indigenous interns were fully funded for four Summer months of exciting and innovative research experiences. Their research projects included clean energy transition and remote Indigenous communities, improving monitoring tools to detect mountain pine beetle at low densities in novel habitats and the influence of beaver dams on downstream methylmercury delivery in the Dehcho, Northwest Territories.
2021 Student Projects
I-STEAM Pathways 2021: Indigenous Interns Summer Research Projects
The Summer 2021 program was another huge success for students in the I-STEAM Pathways program. 20 Indigenous students enrolled in 19 research projects, again covering a wide range of subject matter, from pollinator bees to effect of tree host and population phase on dispersal of mountain pine beetles and developing air quality monitoring devices for remote and reserve communities.
Testimonials
“My I-STEAM Pathways internship, supervised by Dr. Erin Bayne, was a turning point in my academic journey. It provided me with field experience and crucial research connections, leading me to complete an NSERC USRA in magnetotelluric research with Dr. Martyn Unsworth. These opportunities were significant in my acceptance to the Juneau Icefield Research Program, where I gained a deep appreciation for polar environments and a passion for mountaineering exploration. As a result, I’m now eager to pursue graduate education in glacial dynamics, recognizing their vital role in planetary processes and life on Earth.
2020 Student Projects
Despite the disruptions our world faced in 2020, several I-STEAM students worked alongside experts to gain knowledge of the land and explore the trajectories of their academic and professional futures.
I-STEAM Pathways 2020: Converging in Spirit and Learning
From studies such as observing the impact of wildfire smoke on Indigenous communities to investigating the impacts of climate change on glacially fed rivers to learning what influences the presence of urban coyotes, here are snippets from I-STEAM’s 2020 projects.
Testimonials
“Knowledge gained from these internships could be used to mobilize indigenous communities and help create sustainable solutions for timber harvesting or conservation of endangered species. The water monitoring opportunity could be especially impactful for indigenous communities, as some of them are very dependent on natural water sources.