Tea center renewal: environmental research center

The National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education awarded Chief Dull Knife College $2.5 million on September 1, 2026, under the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) Enterprise Advancement Centers (TEA Centers) strand to renew the Environmental Research Center, a STEM research and training facility serving the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.

The Environmental Research Center delivers water quality testing and environmental monitoring services for communities across southeastern Montana, including surface water, groundwater, wells, and independent water sources. The center develops and expands community collaborations focused on natural resource sustainability, restoration, food growth, and environmental stewardship. It strengthens internship-to-career pathways by including interns in research, outreach, and collaborative community projects, and expands drone initiatives to educate tribal and community members in practical applications including firefighting support, crop spraying, and environmental surveying.

The award maintains a workforce loop from education to training and employment with tribal, state, and federal agencies and private sector industries, while providing feedback to improve STEM education. Performance runs through August 31, 2031, at the college's location in Lame Deer, Montana. This is a Project Grant under CFDA 47.076 (STEM Education).

Abstract

A goal of the tribal colleges and universities program (tcup) is to increase the intellectual leadership of tcup institutions so that they can address scientific or engineering needs or interests, specifically for their tribes or communities, or broadly for the nation. The tcup enterprise advancement centers (tea centers) strand allows tcup institutions to capitalize on their investments in stem instructional and research capacity. This project provides renewal funding for the environmental research center, a tea center at chief dull knife college (cdkc) in lame deer, montana. This project aligns directly with the goal of the tea centers strand, and moreover has a direct economic impact on the citizens of northern cheyenne indian reservation by maintaining a workforce loop from education to training for community needs to employment by tribal, state, and federal agencies, as well as private sector industries, while also providing feedback to grow and improve stem education. The renewal of the environmental research center continues to expand cdkc's role of serving the northern plains as a research, monitoring, and training center. To meet the needs of the communities, the following goals are being met: (1) develop and expand community collaborations focused on natural resource sustainability, restoration, food growth, and environmental stewardship, (2) continue providing water quality testing and environmental monitoring services for communities across southeastern montana, including surface water, groundwater, wells, and independent water sources, (3) strengthen pathways from internships to professional careers by including interns in research, outreach, and collaborative community projects, (4) expand the center?s drone initiatives to educate and work collaboratively with community and tribal members in practical applications of drone technology, such as firefighting support, crop spraying, environmental surveying, and land management. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.