The SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education at CU Boulder has partnered with the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies (CNAIS) as it commits support for a new Tribal Sustainability Leaders Fellowship (TSLF). The fellowship will support graduate students at CU Boulder to become the next generation of tribal sustainability and environment leaders. 

The Tribal Sustainability Leaders Fellowship will fund two master’s students from fall 2027 through spring 2029, with additional partnerships under discussion. The application deadline will be in fall 2026.

This partnership aligns around two areas of critical importance and significant focus for CU Boulder: sustainability and the Indigenous communities. The SPIKE Center is a recently established entity at CU Boulder with a charter to enhance sustainability education at the university. Chancellor Justin Schwartz has identified sustainability as one of four key pillars for CU Boulder moving forward, building on a long history of excellence at the school. 

CU Boulder also has long prioritized Native American culture and issues, particularly through CNAIS, which was a key partner in the pilot Tribal Climate Leaders Program (2020–22) and will continue to lead the effort under this new partnership focused on sustainability. The two centers are consulting students from the pilot program, as well as current CU graduate students—especially those in STEM fields—in an effort to improve graduate student mentoring and support at CU Boulder. 

The idea for the Tribal Sustainability Leaders Fellowship was developed in consultation with the CNAIS External Advisory Board, which consists of several notable leaders in the areas of Native law, Native community services, environmental and resource management, tribal land and water resources, and related issues. Also key in supporting and providing feedback was CU Boulder Associate Vice Chancellor for Native American Affairs Benny Shendo.

Native American communities face a host of unique and pressing sustainability challenges, and the fellowship provide opportunities for scholars to address challenges to Indigenous communities. Furthermore, Indigenous knowledge systems can make powerful contributions to sustainability and sustainability solutions globally, and the new fellowship also intends to facilitate such progress through its sponsored scholarship. 

“The TSLF is a critical program to empower graduate students to research sustainability challenges and to develop their own capacities to drive solutions,” said Andrew Cowell, interim faculty director of CNAIS. “We appreciate the partnership from the SPIKE Center to facilitate the next chapter of TSLF that builds on our previous work.”

“Part of the focus of the SPIKE Center is to enable students of all backgrounds to access the training required to be the sustainability leaders of tomorrow and to drive transformative environmental impact,” said Max Boykoff, faculty executive director of the SPIKE Center. “We are honored to partner with CNAIS in support of this critical initiative.”