For generations, Kanani D’Angelo's family has lived in ‘Aiea, Hawai’i. The area, now developed with roads and subdivisions, was once home to lush taro fields and fish ponds that supported the community. As a graduate student at UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, D’Angelo is working to integrate traditional Ahupua’a practices into urban settings. These efforts include restoring the ancient royal fishpond Loko Iʻa Pāʻaiau.

“Pu’uloa used to be home to over 20 fish ponds,” D’Angelo noted. “The water is still there, the practices are all still there, they’ve just been buried.”

D’Angelo's work is supported by the Native FEWS Alliance, a consortium aimed at equipping students with skills to strengthen food, energy, and water systems in tribal communities. The alliance was launched in 2021 with a $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). However, its future is uncertain after funding was unexpectedly terminated along with approximately 380 other NSF grants.

“This award is focused on innovative research and community partnerships linking two interconnected challenges: a crisis in access to food, energy and water in Native American communities; and the limited number of qualified science and engineering specialists who have the educational background and professional experience to address these needs,” said Alice Agogino of UC Berkeley.

Agogino co-leads the alliance alongside Karletta Chief from the University of Arizona. The alliance includes partners from over 20 colleges and universities as well as nonprofits like the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.

Tribal lands hold potential for sustainable systems providing food, energy, and water. Agogino emphasized integrating Indigenous knowledge with modern technology to solve these challenges.

“Native cultures have a long history of long-term environmental sustainability and systems thinking when it comes to food, energy and water,” Agogino said.

The alliance aims to incorporate Indigenous approaches into Western science education through curricula development and workshops. For instance, the University of Colorado leads a certificate program in Native Food, Energy and Water Systems.

Yael Perez of UC Berkeley highlighted that this training could strengthen domestic workforce capabilities while advancing economic prosperity in Native communities. “The skills that our graduates acquire also have the potential to be applicable to other FEWS-challenged communities around the globe,” Perez stated.

Since 2008, Agogino and Perez have collaborated with tribes like Pinoleville Pomo Nation on projects related to housing and renewable energy power systems. This partnership informs their work within UC Berkeley’s development engineering programs which focus on technical solutions for low-income communities.

At UC Berkeley, Marlena Robbins joins D’Angelo as a graduate student researcher connecting students through initiatives like Indigi-Grad workshops focusing on Indigenous Research Methods. Robbins studies psychedelic-assisted therapy impacts on Native American communities for her dissertation.

Growing up on Navajo reservation lands posed educational challenges for Robbins but attending UC Berkeley provided her with community support through programs like Native FEWS Alliance. “I think the Indigi-Grad workshop itself as a learning hub that is very intentional about the researchers that we bring in,” Robbins remarked.