Define your unique value proposition and market yourself in a digital world

Why your digital reputation matters, and what you can do to strengthen it

Everyone wants a job that is personally satisfying and improves the world. Few career paths offer as many different ways to achieve both objectives as geoscience.

Like many other Native students, Kenny Swift Bird was motivated to go to college. He had some great teachers at the high school in his small Nebraska hometown of Chadron, less than an hour’s drive from his Oglala Lakota Tribe’s Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. When he took statistics, calculus, and chemistry, his teachers helped him discover both his aptitude for STEM and how much he enjoys it.

A map can speak many languages, reach many audiences — and significantly support the stewardship of natural resources. Where geospatial data is needed, geographic information systems (GIS) are an important tool for building maps that locate information related to flora and fauna, cultural preservation, and recreation, among other applications. 

A genuine investment in corporate social responsibility means everybody wins

Growing up surrounded by his family and immersed in culture provided a firm foundation for Jeffrey Davis. “My driving factor is words of wisdom from my grandparents William ‘Buster’ Davis and Martha Davis,” says Davis, Tlingit. “They told me early on that I should always do any job to the best of my ability because my success and hard work are a reflection of me, my family, my community, and my culture.”

Patricia Bancroft gives her family a huge part of the credit for her success. In her household there was no question — skip-ping college was just not an option. “I’ll be the second of three siblings to get an undergraduate degree,” says Bancroft, a member of the class of 2018 at Northern Arizona University. “I say it every day: my degree is not only for me but for my family.” 

One of the newest advisory councils at AISES, the Canadian Indigenous Advisory Council (CIAC, pronounced “kayak”) supports the Board, staff, councils, and committees with insights about issues important to AISES members, and the entire Indigenous STEM community, in Canada. The council promotes the mission of increasing representation of Indigenous people in STEM across Canada, while helping the organization better serve all Canadian members and maintain relationships with corporate and postsecondary stakeholders.

There are many good reasons why one hundred Phoenix-based AISES members are active participants in the city’s Professional Chapter. For many, the most important is the opportunity to make a difference for Natives in STEM. Chapter members mentor individual students and offer guidance to the College Chapters at Arizona State, the University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University.