Little Shop of Physics Receives Grant to Expand STEM Outreach to Native American Reservations
Colorado State University’s Little Shop of Physics was recently awarded a $25,000 grant from Halliburton to further expand the university’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) outreach to Native American reservations.
The Little Shop of Physics, a traveling hands-on science education program that presents school programs and teacher workshops, aims to make science accessible to all students through more than 100 interactive experiments. The program serves about 25,000 students annually.
The new grant helps the program expand its scope, provide additional teacher workshops and kits, and visit areas — like the Wind River Reservation — that were previously outside its reach.
“Colorado State University is a strategic university for Halliburton because of our operations in these areas,” said Cindy Bigner, Halliburton senior director, Corporate Affairs and Diversity Initiative. “These STEM programs are essential to our staffing needs for current and future hiring.”
“We are thrilled to be able to grow our program this year, thanks to the additional funds from Halliburton,” said Brian Jones, director of the Little Shop of Physics. “Our visits are true partnerships with the tribal groups on the reservations. The interns who participate in our extended ‘road trips’ to these areas get a very valuable experience with another culture, and the Native American students with whom we work always show us new ways to think about our science experiments. We really look forward to bringing our outreach to the Wind River Reservation and beyond.”
“The Little Shop of Physics is the College’s premier outreach program. It touches thousands of students nationally and internationally each year,” said Jan Nerger, dean of the College of Natural Sciences. “Halliburton’s support will allow Little Shop to continue to expand its mission of making STEM education more accessible to all students.”
Last year, the Little Shop of Physics traveled to numerous communities in Colorado, South Dakota, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.
About Halliburton
Founded in 1919, Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry. With more than 75,000 employees, representing 140 nationalities in approximately 80 countries, the company serves the upstream oil and gas industry throughout the lifecycle of the reservoir—from locating hydrocarbons and managing geological data, to drilling and formation evaluation, well construction and completion, and optimizing production through the life of the field. Visit the company’s website at www.halliburton.com.
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