ESIL's Mission
The mission of the ESIL program is to broaden participation of students in STEM through education and community partnerships that promote healing and stewardship of Native land.
The ESIL certificate is available to current CU Denver undergraduate, graduate, and non-degree students. While the certificate is open to students from all educational backgrounds, ESIL targets students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), with special emphasis on biology, civil engineering, and environmental sciences. Accordingly, the ESIL certificate includes a broad and rigorous selection of STEM coursework as shown under Certificate Requirements.
Professional training, including extracurricular activities and internships, is what makes the ESIL certificate unique. The extracurricular activities provide students with culturally-relevant training in topics such as tribal sovereignty, environmental law, transcultural compentency, and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). Both the STEM curriculum and these professional skills are brought to bear during internships in which students practice facilitation as tribal liaisons with our tribal and non-tribal government partners.