Tsip: building sustainable undergraduate research pathways through academic-year internships and near-peer mentorship

The National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education awarded Northwest Indian College $700,000 on August 15, 2026, under the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP), a component of STEM Education (CFDA 47.076), to build sustainable undergraduate research pathways through academic-year internships and near-peer mentorship in environmental science.

NWIC will establish an academic-year internship program pairing undergraduate students with graduate student researchers to conduct applied research on environmental challenges affecting the Salish Sea, including water quality, seafood safety, ecosystem monitoring, and natural resource management. Student interns will participate in laboratory, field, and data analysis work with mentorship from graduate students and research scientists, developing technical skills, conducting independent research, and presenting scientific results. The near-peer mentoring model provides leadership development for graduate students while strengthening undergraduate student engagement and scientific training. The project will investigate whether sustained academic-year research experiences improve undergraduate STEM outcomes, with findings contributing to knowledge regarding effective practices in tribal college research capacity building.

The award supports a period of performance from August 15, 2026, through July 31, 2029, with work performed in Bellingham, Washington. The project builds on the research infrastructure of NWIC's Salish Sea Research Center and aims to improve student STEM persistence, retention, and career preparation while expanding NWIC's STEM research and education capacity.

Abstract

The NSF tribal colleges and universities program (tcup) provides support to tcus to build capacity in stem education and research offerings at their institutions. This project, managed by northwest indian college (nwic), will strengthen the nation?s stem workforce preparation by expanding undergraduate research opportunities for nwic students through an academic-year internship program in environmental science. Student interns will participate in applied research experiences that combine laboratory, field, and data analysis with mentorship from graduate students and research scientists. Research projects will address real-world environmental challenges affecting the salish sea, including water quality, seafood safety, ecosystem monitoring, and natural resource management. The project builds on the successful research infrastructure of the salish sea research center and creates a sustainable pathway for students to develop technical skills, conduct independent research, present scientific results, and prepare for graduate education and careers in environmental science. This project aims to build nwic's stem research and education capacity and, in doing so, improve student stem outcomes, including persistence, retention, and career preparation. A near-peer mentoring model will pair undergraduate students with graduate student researchers in academic-year research internships, conducting applied research focused on contemporary and locally relevant environmental science challenges. Through structured mentoring roles, the project also provides leadership development opportunities for graduate students while strengthening undergraduate student engagement and scientific training. The project will explore whether sustained academic-year research experiences improve undergraduate stem outcomes. Findings will contribute to the corpus of knowledge regarding evidence-based approaches for undergraduate research training and mentoring. Additional broader impacts include expanding collaborations with natural resource agencies, increasing scientific capacity to address regional environmental challenges, and preparing graduates who will contribute to the management of natural resources, environmental monitoring, and the nation's stem workforce. 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.