Fred Begay Fellowship
This award promotes the participation of Indigenous peoples who have intersected the fields of physics, astronomy, planetary science, space sciences or related disciplines such as engineering, chemistry or mathematics by identifying and recognizing a distinguished Indigenous Scientist who has made significant contributions to the advancement of Indigenous peoples within these spaces. The fellowship consists of a $2,000 award and a certificate citing the contributions of the recipient.
Establishment
The Fred Begay Fellowship Award was established in 2023 by the Society of Indigenous Physicists and is named after Dr. Fred Begay (Clever Fox). He is Ute and Navajo from the Tachii'ni Clan (Red Running into the Water People) and Kin lichii nii Clan (Red House People). Dr. Begay is recognized as the first Indigenous person to receive a Ph.D. in Physics, namely in Nuclear Physics from the University of New Mexico in 1971. Dr. Begay forged a path into Physics, which other Indigenous people have followed. So too does this Fellowship acknowledge the work of creating opportunities for other Indigenous people in Physics and the Space Sciences.
Rules & Eligibility
Any Indigenous person who has made significant contributions to the betterment, or advancement, of Indigenous Peoples in the fields of physics, astronomy, planetary science, space sciences or related disciplines like engineering, chemistry or mathematics. This fellowship award is not limited to scientists in industry, advanced degree holders, or with permanent positions in academic/higher educational institutions; rather, it is open to those who make significant contributions that promote the inclusion, awareness and elevation of Indigenous Peoples within these respective fields.
Awardees
2023, Inaugural – Ximena C. Cid, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Department Chair of Physics, California State University Dominguez Hills. Dr. Cid is Chicana and Yaqui and the first Indigenous chair of a Physics Department. Dr. Cid has paved the way for Indigenous scholars to connect with one another by creating dedicated sessions for Indigenous Physicists at SACNAS and APPT. Dr. Cid is intentional about elevating the voices and brilliance of Indigenous scholars who honor their identity while pursuing their respective degrees within the academy, industry and educational spaces.
Made possible by the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Hoʻolehua Fellowship
This award is given to an Indigenous scholar who is laying the foundation for expression and elevation of Indigenous scholars who have intersected the fields of physics, astronomy, planetary science, space sciences or related disciplines like engineering, chemistry or mathematics. Hoʻolehua awardees are a voice of change and model an authentic expression of Indigeneity within their respective field. This award is for Indigenous scholars who embody two-eyed seeing in their work, which is a concept set forth by Mi’kmaq elders that approach the world using both Indigenous and Western ways of knowing in recognition of the added depth perception and strength the combined worldviews can bring. The Hoʻolehua Fellowship consists of a $2,000 award and a certificate citing the contributions of the recipient.
Establishment
The Hoʻolehua Award was established in 2023 by the Society of Indigenous Physicists. The name of the award comes from the Indigenous language of the Kanaka Māoli people from the Pacific Island Nation of Hawaiʻi. The islands of Hawaiʻi are located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and continue to form over an active volcanic hotspot that creates the land for each of the nearly 1,400 islands and atolls. The movement of the tectonic plates is what shifts each landmass in the northwest direction to create unique islands that go through the evolutionary process from tall mountains into the smaller atolls.
Once the land cools, the first plant that does the hard work of establishing their root systems is the ʻŌhia Lehua tree. This tree provides the foundation for the entire rainforest to grow and flourish. A unique characteristic of the ʻŌhia Lehua tree is that it can grow at sea-level or high elevation and wet or dry environments making it one of the hardiest plants within the Hawaiian ecosystem. One can start to see why there are many culturally significant stories that include the ʻŌhia Lehua tree.
The Hoʻolehua Fellowship honors individuals who set the foundation in their respective areas for their forests to grow. As Indigenous scholars who walk in two worlds of their Indigenous heritage and the culture of the Western academic structure, this fellowship honors those who have done the hard work of bringing out the strengths of both cultures to move us collectively forward. In the Hawaiian language, hoʻo is the word used to make a noun into a verb. The combination of hoʻo and lehua brings forth a word that means to act swiftly, strong and expertly, which is exactly the way our Indigenous scholars move.
Rules & Eligibility
Any Indigenous person who has made significant contributions to the betterment, or advancement, of Indigenous Peoples in the fields of physics, astronomy, planetary science, space sciences or related disciplines like engineering, chemistry or mathematics. This fellowship award is not limited to scientists in industry, advanced degree holders, or with permanent positions in academic/higher educational institutions; rather it is open to those who make significant contributions that promote the inclusion, awareness and elevation of Indigenous Peoples within these respective fields.
Awardees
2023, Inaugural – Brittany Kamai, Ph.D.
Brittany holds a joint appointment as an Assistant Project Scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz and as an Affiliate Graduate Faculty at the University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa. Dr. Kamai is Kanaka Māoli (Native Hawaiian) from Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi and her middle name is Lehua. Dr. Kamai received this award honoring her unwavering embodiment of two-eyed seeing. Her approach to instrumentation for gravitational-wave physics is deeply informed by her identity and values. She has enriched the world of physics by bringing her clear vision and advocacy for Indigenous Peoples to the field.
Made possible by the Heising-Simons Foundation.
kʰalakwati Stewardship Fellowship
This award is inspired by the cedar tree and is given to an Indigenous scholar who plays the critical role of tending to their communities, including in physics, astronomy, planetary science, space sciences or related disciplines like engineering, chemistry or mathematics. The kʰalakwati Fellowship consists of a $2,000 award and a certificate citing the contributions of the recipient.
Establishment
The cedar tree, often referred to as grandmother cedar, is a critically important part of Chinookan culture and Pacific Northwest Indigenous cultures more broadly. This award honors and is inspired by the way the cedar tree provides for everyday community - the plankhouse beams that support our gathering, the clothes and head coverings we wear that keep us dry in the rain, and the canoes that transport us. She is there, supporting and connecting us.
Rules & Eligibility
Any Indigenous person who has acted in the spirit of cedar for Indigenous peoples in the fields of physics, astronomy, planetary science, space sciences or related disciplines like engineering, chemistry or mathematics. This fellowship award is not limited to scientists in industry, advanced degree holders, or with permanent positions in academic/higher educational institutions.
Awardees
2023, Inaugural – Dr. Angela Little
Dr.Little is a Chicago-based farmer, small business owner, and Research Specialist in Physics Education at Michigan State University. She is a citizen of the Chinook Nation and has served on her tribe’s Scholarship and Education Committee for nearly 20 years. This award honors Dr. Little for the connecting work that she does in the Indigenous physics community - gathering people together and building infrastructure for connection. In 2018 she chaired the APS Committee on Minorities Task Force focused on understanding how APS could better support Indigenous organizing in physics. Most recently she raised money from the APS Committee on Minorities to fund a relationship-building project to understand the needs and interests of our community for the inaugural Society of Indigenous Physicists Gathering in 2024. Little is a critical steward of and for the Society of Indigenous Physicists.
Made possible by the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Sharon Yellowfly Fellowship
This award is given in recognition of work related to incorporating Indigenous voices and languages within the fields of physics, astronomy, planetary science, space sciences or related disciplines such as engineering, chemistry or mathematics. This award shines a light on physicists, language specialists, and knowledge keepers who generate ways to connect Indigenous communities and physics through Indigenous languages. This award supports Indigenous physicists who proactively connect their ancestral Indigenous Languages to the western science-scape they work within. The fellowship consists of a $2,000 award and a certificate citing the contributions of the recipient.
Establishment
The Sharon Yellowfly Fellowship Award was established in 2023 by the Society of Indigenous Physicists. This award is named after Sharon Yellowfly, or Saguisogasim, which translates to "Last Yellow Angelica" in Blackfoot. Yellowfly was born and raised on the Blackfoot Indian Reserve, now known as the Siksika Nation, in southern Alberta, Canada. She is a survivor of the Crowfoot Residential School, an experience through which she exhibited incredible resilience by being able to maintain her knowledge of her first language, the “Old Style” Blackfoot language. Yellowfly received a B.A. in Anthropology with honors from California State University at San Bernardino. She continues to work on a Blackfoot dictionary—an endeavor of over 40 years. Yellowfly has four children who, although they did not grow up speaking Blackfoot, learned the importance of language by hearing Blackfoot as she spoke with her parents on the phone almost daily.
In February 2016, Sharon's son Corey Gray asked his mother if she would be interested in translating a scientific document into Blackfoot. This was the press release for the historic announcement of the first direct detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration. In about a week, Yellowfly, along with help from family back home in Alberta, was able to translate the LIGO press release into Blackfoot! She has since translated several other press releases, science summaries and even a scientific comic into Blackfoot.
The work of Sharon Yellowfly and her son, Corey Gray, highlight the importance of finding new ways to creatively communicate science and ensure the Blackfoot language remains a living language with new words added for science communication. This work has been an inspiration to Yellowfly’s family back home, her tribe, and the public at large.
Rules & Eligibility
Any Indigenous person who has made a significant effort to connect their Indigenous language to the fields of physics, astronomy, planetary science, space sciences or related disciplines like engineering, chemistry or mathematics. This fellowship award is not limited to scientists in industry, advanced degree holders, or with permanent positions in academic/higher educational institutions.
Awardees
2023, Inaugural – Corey M. Gray
Senior Operations Specialist for the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) at the LIGO Hanford Observatory. Corey is Blackfoot and a member of the Siksika Nation and is also Scottish. Gray’s Blackfoot name is maguyuʔsuguu, or Wolf’s Path, which comes from the Blackfoot story for the Milky Way. Corey is receiving this award in recognition of his important role in creating space for the Blackfoot language to be used to translate one of the greatest scientific discoveries in the modern era.
Made possible by the Heising-Simons Foundation.