The NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium has strived for an exceptional reputation, built by delivering geospatial science experiences to Nebraska's Native Americans. For seven years, our program has fostered and sustained partnerships with the two tribal colleges and four reservation-serving school districts in Nebraska to foster aeronautics education and outreach.

The Nebraska Native American Outreach Program (NNAOP) has grown to incorporate more than educational institutions and is now a partnership among tribal community leaders, academia, tribal schools, and industry. The content focus has broadened from aeronautics in the school systems to aerospace technology and earth science applications in tribal community decision-making and workforce training on the reservations. Participants include faculty and staff at four Nebraska tribal schools, two tribal colleges, approximately 1,000 Native American youth, and over 1,200 community members.

The Native American Initiative of our program addresses Nebraska workforce development and serves as a model to others.

Recruitment of underrepresented groups has always been a priority for our scholarship/fellowship programs. In 2004, 62% of the awards went to female students and 19% went to minority students - more than double the state's minority population base of 9.3%.

The NASA Nebraska Space Grant African American outreach is also enhanced by the Tuskegee Airmen Internship Program. The Omaha Tuskegee Airman Chapter sponsors a local Civil Air Patrol chapter for economically disadvantaged youth and actively sponsors an undergraduate intern. Additional NASA Nebraska Space Grant funding provides needed supplies for the official Alfonza W. Davis Chapter office.