FORT BELKNAP, Mont. (NMB) – Aaniiih Nakoda College (ANC) has announced that they will be establishing and operating a Buffalo Research and Education Center thanks to $3,500,000 in funding from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) TCU Enterprise Advancement Center (TEA).
A press release says this is a five-year project which will serve “as an intellectual hub for research and education efforts that address the values, needs, and aspirations of the Fort Belknap Indian Community (FBIC) and enrich the relationship between the people of Fort Belknap, the tribal buffalo herd, and the prairie ecosystem.”
The release says this will allow the College to conduct ecological research on the Fort Belknap buffalo herd and provide academic training and community education to prepare future caretakers of tribal wildlife and associated natural resources.
Research will be done in collaboration with college faculty and students, the Fort Belknap Buffalo Program and Fish and Wildlife Department, and visiting faculty fellows from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, World Wildlife Fund, and Little Dog Wildlife, Inc.
ANC will be working to develop curriculum for courses in buffalo ecology, grassland ecology, and/or wildlife ecology to create a specialized option within ANC’s Aaniiih Nakoda Ecology BS degree program.
Students will be able to work as research assistants, and there will be local community outreach throughout the project.
