Though he had no idea of it at the time, Dylan Moriarty started training for his current job at New Mexico–based Sandia National Laboratories when he was a young boy. Moriarty grew up in rural Fort Defiance, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation.

Dr. Otakuye Conroy-Ben’s environmental consciousness was awakened at a very young age. Growing up in Porcupine, S.D., on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, she could literally taste and smell the impacts people were — or were not — making on the natural world around her.

Sheila Lopez still vividly recalls the first time she fully shared her life story in front of an audience. A member of the Navajo tribe, Lopez was the first in her family to attend college. While an undergraduate pursuing a degree in electrical engineering at Northern Arizona University, Lopez worked in the school’s multicultural engineering program office.

Yona Wade is not the type of person who waits for things to happen. It’s an impulse he has been cultivating since he was very young. “As a kid, I always was the one who wanted to be in charge and run the show and make whatever I needed to happen actually happen,” he says. “I never had time to wait for others.”

For Jacob Calderone, setting goals and following through on them has always been second nature. “I think that comes from my mother,” he says. “My mother uses her dedication and hard work to accomplish goals in her life. Her success motivates me to work as hard as I can for what I want.”

Native Americans engaged in meaningful work that benefits Indigenous people and communities are eligible for the Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellowship. In partnership with the Henry Luce Foundation, the First Nations Development Institute is awarding its first 10 fellowships in January 2020.

I grew up in Ontario, Canada, on Mississauga First Nation, a small reserve next to a little town called Blind River. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to go into the health care field, but I wasn’t sure what would be the best fit for me. I did know I wanted to help people, and to hopefully return to my community later on. 

It’s a good thing I don’t mind getting stung. Having spent most of my adult life working with bees, getting stung is normal for me. From commercial beekeeping outfits to my own queen honey bee breeding farm, my love of bees runs deep. Now, as I look to complete my master’s degree in entomology at Washington State University (WSU), I’m well on my way to gaining the knowledge and experience I need to better support bees — and the planet.

Growing up on the Navajo Nation, it’s common to know someone without access to electricity. For me, this includes my great-grandmother, who lives in Black Mesa, Arizona. I grew up in Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation. So as a child, I would often wonder why we had electricity and she didn’t. These types of questions led me to experiment with small circuits and electronics. From then on, I’ve had an interest in electronics and learning how things work — and finding their application to real-world problems. 

I distinctly remember growing up without ever seeing a Native dentist, doctor, or athlete. As a result, I never pictured myself growing into one of those roles. But somewhere along the way, I realized that I could do it. Now, in my senior year at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), I’m working on a dual degree in chemistry and American Indian studies — on my way to becoming the person I never saw: a Native American dentist.