This talk invites students and community members to explore how young researchers are helping uncover the layered histories of Native American boarding schools, especially in the heartland of Native America—Oklahoma. Centered on the collaboration of students and professionals engaged in mentored, community-centered research, this presentation highlights how archival searches, archaeology, oral histories, and digital mapping are used to understand and share Indigenous stories. Dr.

Ashlynn Stillwell, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will discuss her work on sustainable water and energy systems. Water and energy are closely linked resources with clean water and sanitation services dependent on energy, and fuels production and electric power generation dependent on water. This water-energy nexus spreads across scales to include large-scale infrastructure systems, societal trends and patterns, and individual behaviors.