David Snow has a cool job. In fact, his work is supercool. He’s a cryogenic engineer with Rigetti Computing, a company based in Berkeley, Calif., that designs and builds quantum computers that run at near absolute zero — roughly minus 460 degrees Fahrenheit.

Right place, right time? For Roylene Comes At Night, a decision to compete in NAISEF (the National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair sponsored by AISES) came at just the right time.

Growing up in Tucson, Ariz., surrounded by the Sonoran Desert, Nadira Mitchell was always interested in the natural world. As a child, she remembers collecting snails after the monsoon rains and taking notes on her observations. “My mother would always remind me to thank them for their knowledge,” says Mitchell. “She instilled within me a love and respect for all animals and other living beings, rooted in our Navajo culture.”

Jayson Pomfret is on his own unique path. A proud member of the Métis Nation of Ontario, he is a fourth-year health sciences student at Queen’s University in Ontario, specializing in the physiological basis of health and disease. With a deep-rooted passion for medicine and advocacy, Pomfret has dedicated his academic journey to understanding the intricacies of the human body while simultaneously maintaining a strong commitment to helping Indigenous communities.

It began as an Indian taco stand at the annual Gathering at the Falls Pow Wow at Riverfront Park in Spokane, Wash. Today that taco stand has grown into two locations of Indigenous Eats, a restaurant co-owned by Yakama Nation member Jenny Slagle. She and her husband and business partner, Andrew, operate the two Spokane eateries, where they offer a menu of “Native American comfort food.”

When James LeMoine became one of the inaugural recipients of the Indigenous and Black Engineering/Technology (IBET) Momentum Fellowships in 2021, it marked a turning point. The fellowship — currently available to PhD students in engineering and computer science at 16 Canadian universities — not only offers significant financial support and opportunities to meet other Indigenous engineering students, it can also be a wake-up call for the institution. 

Traditionally, members of the Karuk Tribe consumed about 450 pounds of salmon per person, per year. Brook Thompson may not have the privilege to eat that much because of environmental neglect and dams built on the Klamath River, but salmon is significant to her culturally, having grown up as a fisherwoman. The importance of salmon and fresh water to her people has always resonated with her. As a result, Thompson is intent on ensuring that both the salmon and fresh water sources are always protected.

The stories told to us by our elders can sow seeds that flower for later generations. For Sky Harper, Navajo (Diné), stories told by his mother, Cassandra Begay, ignited a passion for learning that can help his people. He is of the Towering House Clan, born for the Red Running Into Water Clan. His maternal grandfather is of the Big Water Clan, and his paternal grandfather is of the Towering House Clan. His mother’s tales sparked a fascination with the natural world and motivated him to understand it by pursuing a wide-ranging discipline that comes with an opportunity to give back.

Caydence Palmer has good reasons to be optimistic about her future. A senior at Mescalero Apache High School, she is applying to her dream college — the University of Arizona — and hoping to enter the field of mechanical engineering. Palmer, who’s had opportunities to travel the world, to be the youngest student in advanced engineering classes, and to be the only Indigenous participant in her highly competitive NASA internship cohort, is used to breaking barriers. 

Jordan Sahly has lost track of the number of baking soda volcanoes he made in his driveway as a child. But he hasn’t lost his passion for the sciences, chemistry in particular. After honing his interest in science, Sahly set his sights on chemical engineering and hasn’t looked back. Now a senior at Yale University, Sahly is well on his way to becoming a chemical engineer with the goal of helping Native communities combat energy and climate crises and limit harm to the land.