Office of Indian Energy Updates
Join DOE at the 2024 AISES National Conference!
 📅 Oct. 3–5 | San Antonio, Texas
The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) National Conference is a unique, 3-day event focusing on educational, professional, and workforce development for Indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific Islands in STEM studies and careers.
Connect with the Office of Indian Energy and many other U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) offices and labs.
DOE Sessions and Events:
- Oct. 2: STEM Activities Day, Navajo Ecology STEM Demonstration
- Oct. 3: Capacity Building Through Entrepreneurship; Graduate student mixer
- Oct. 4: Infusing Native Languages and STEM
- Oct. 5: Highlights of Career-focused STEM Training and Workforce Development.
View details on the DOE sessions and participants.
News and Resources
Registration Now Open for Virtual Wind Energy Career Fair for Students and Career-Seekers
DOE Wind Works Forum To Feature First Steps to Wind Energy Careers
 The Wind Works Forum is a virtual networking event from Sept. 23 to 26, designed to help students and career seekers envision an exciting career in wind energy and take the first steps toward making that vision a reality.
What you can expect:
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Insightful panels and discussions with industry leaders
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Networking opportunities with community colleges and universities with dynamic academic programs and companies offering internships and apprenticeships
- A chance to learn about the career paths in wind energy, such as engineering, financial, maintenance, and others.
Don't miss this opportunity to shape your future in wind energy—register today! We hope to see you there!
This event is being organized and sponsored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and DOE in collaboration with REpowering Schools.
LANL, National Nuclear Security Administration Partner With Northern New Mexico College To Train Local Students for High-Wage Cybersecurity Jobs
 LANL’s Crossroads supercomputer is in a room roughly the size of a football field. At the laboratory, more than 1,200 employees work with supercomputers or in another aspect of computing—all of which require cybersecurity professionals to keep operations running. Photo from LANL.
The following is an excerpt from the Los Alamos Reporter’s full story.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, the National Nuclear Security Administration and Northern New Mexico College are joining forces to develop a new cybersecurity training center through the Lab’s Mentor-Protégé Program, a business-development initiative designed to support area businesses as they expand their capabilities. The college holds the distinction of being the first minority-serving higher education institution to participate as a protégé in the U.S. Department of Energy program.
As a result of one-time funding provided by the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Pipeline Development Program, Northern will receive $376,675 to begin work on moving the project forward. The funding will primarily provide resources for a faculty director position as well as software, hardware and outreach activities. The resulting Center for Information Technology and Cybersecurity will train students for in-demand careers nationwide and at the Laboratory. The collaboration’s first-year aims are to establish a space, budget and curriculum. The partners anticipate that courses will be offered at the new center beginning fall 2025, for four-year degrees as well as professional development.
Geothermal Collegiate Competition Partners with Native Communities to Explore Clean Energy
 The GCC 2023 first-place policy track team meets with community members from the Native Village of Elim, Alaska to celebrate and discuss their geothermal project. Photo by NREL.
The DOE Geothermal Collegiate Competition (GCC) provides students the opportunity to solve real-world problems and teaches the critical need of interacting directly with communities. A recent GCC blog highlights past projects with Tribal Nations.
- A team from The University of Oklahoma took first place in the 2023 technical track for their proposed geothermal heating and cooling system to maintain growing temperatures year-round in the Osage Nation’s 40,000-square-foot greenhouse in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, supporting efforts for food sovereignty.
- In the 2023 policy track, the first-place team from Columbia and Princeton Universities partnered with a community in the subarctic Native Village of Elim, Alaska, to help the community consider alternative options to traditional fuel dependency. The team analyzed a proposed ocean-based closed-loop geothermal heating and cooling system for the 330-person town, finding that costs could be fully recuperated in as little as 14 years.
Registration for the 2024 Geothermal Collegiate Competition is now open!
- The final registration deadline is Oct. 7, 2024.
- New this year, there is a $2,000 bonus award for outstanding submission from a team of all Tribal college and/or community college students!
- Check out a 30-second video to learn what the competition is all about.
- Learn more from the informational webinar recording.
Graduates and Post-Graduates Can Now Make a Splash With the 2025 Marine Energy Fellowship
 Apply to the 2025 Marine Energy Fellowship by Dec. 6 (summer fellowship) or Mar. 7, 2025 (fall fellowship), to work with leading scientists and researchers and explore marine energy research opportunities. The fellowship offers tracks for graduates and post-graduates to help convert waves, tides, and currents into marine energy.
Funding Opportunities
Stay up to date on the latest clean energy funding opportunities for tribes and tribal entities on the Office of Indian Energy Current Funding Opportunities page.
Notice of Intent: TCUs Planning for Clean Energy Transition
$5 million
Funding opportunity anticipated late summer.
On Aug. 5, the Office of Indian Energy issued two Notices of Intent to release a combined $30 million in Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) later this summer, including $5 million for TCUs to plan the transition of their campuses to clean energy.
Under the planned FOA, the Office of Indian Energy anticipates making approximately $5 million available with awards that range from $100,000 to $250,000 for planning grants. No recipient cost share is anticipated under the planned FOA.
Download the Notice of Intent (DE-FOA-3402) for Tribal Colleges and Universities Planning for Clean Energy Transition – 2025, for full information.
Minority Serving Institutions Contract Readiness Prize
$775,000
Apply by Oct. 4.
This one-phase capacity building prize aims to boost equity across DOE and federal contracting for small, medium, and large TCUs and other Minority Serving Institutions.
A total prize pool of $775,000 will be divided between approximately 35 winners, who will each receive a minimum of $15,000, based on their plans and activities that are leading to becoming DOE contract-ready.
Learn more about federal contracting and contract readiness in the “Funding Futures Webinar Series” created for this prize.
Good Jobs in Clean Energy Prize
$3.4 million
Apply by Jan. 31.
This prize is designed to encourage building coalitions in communities across the country that focus on creating quality jobs and fostering an equitable and inclusive workforce in clean energy sectors. Gather your team of labor organizations, clean energy employers, community-based organizations, public agencies, and education and workforce providers, and apply for Phase One by Jan. 31, 2025.
Events
Wind Works Forum 2024
📅 Sept. 23–26 | Online
This virtual networking event is designed to help students and career-seekers envision an exciting career in wind energy and take the first steps toward making that vision a reality. Join for a single day or all four! Details above.
Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships and Community College Internships Office Hours
📅 Sept. 26 | 2–3 p.m. ET
Applications are currently being accepted for the spring 2025 term of two programs offered by the DOE Office of Science: the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships program and the Community College Internships program.
The application deadline for the two programs is 5 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2024.
Got questions? Applicants and letter of recommendation writers are invited to attend office hours to answer administrative questions.
2024 AISES National Conference
📅 Oct. 3–5 | San Antonio, Texas
The Annual AISES National Conference is a unique 3-day event focusing on educational, professional, and workforce development for Indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific Islands in STEM studies and careers. Details above.
Good Jobs in Clean Energy Prize Informational Webinar
📅 Oct. 3 | 3 p.m. ET
Learn about the Good Jobs in Clean Energy Prize, which will invest up to $3,375,000 in coalition-building aimed at creating quality clean energy jobs and fostering an equitable and inclusive clean energy workforce.
BRIDGES Bioenergy 101 Virtual Workshop: Incorporating Bioenergy National Laboratory Research into the Classroom
📅 Oct. 17 | 6–7 p.m. ET
Educators will be introduced to bioenergy national laboratory research that can be integrated into classrooms. Bioenergy knowledge is not required.
The Bioenergy Research and Education Bridge Program (BRIDGES) is a bioenergy education curriculum that includes four case studies covering sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), upcycling plastics, bioenergy feedstocks, and waste-to-energy potential.
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