The Geering Up team has their hearts set on breaking down barriers for youth. When it comes to EDII in Applied Science (and beyond!), their Indigenous Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (InSTEM) team collaborates with Indigenous community partners. They centre Etuaptmumk—a term shared by Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall and is what we commonly refer to as a two-eyed seeing approach—to benefit everyone.  

Indigenous People have always been at the forefront of engineering and science, so when we teach STEM only through a western science lens, we miss out on critical gaps in knowledge. The InSTEM team works alongside knowledge keepers and Elders and engages with traditional learning practices to deliver in-community classroom workshops and land-based engineering-focused summer camps with Indigenous Youth. At the same time, InSTEM instructors take home invaluable Indigenous knowledge and culture to transform how these university students view the world.  

The InSTEM team also invites high school students from different communities to explore post-secondary pathways through the UBC Campus Visit program that launched in 2023. 

Geering Up’s InSTEM Assistant Manager, Sara, shares why InSTEM and EDII are so important to her and to Geering Up.  

“I grew up with grandparents who proudly told me we were Latvian and Japanese. Throughout my life, I saw cultural differences celebrated and I also saw role models. 

As a privileged immigrant and settler on Musqueam Territory, I came to UBC to study Conservation Science. I started to question the history of and motivations for parks and ecological restoration in Canada and the United States, where I was raised. After graduating, I started working with Geering Up’s InSTEM team and opened my eyes to new Indigenous perspectives.  

I’ve continued to learn from our community partners, Elders, mentors, and colleagues. I’m surrounded by a supportive team that dedicates time at every meeting to dive into EDII topics. Cultural humility is at the centre of everything we do at Geering Up and that is why the InSTEM program has continued to flourish. I hope that our work will continue to celebrate different cultures and give youth role models in STEM.” 

Sara, centre, with members of the Geering Up team volunteering at the Intergenerational march September 30, 2023 on Main Mall, UBC