IEEE Funds Hoop House Renovation Project
At 27,000 square miles, the Navajo Nation is larger than West Virginia, but it has fewer than 15 grocery stores. In addition, 35% of homes have no connection to central power or piped water. This lack of access to clean and potable water, as well as to locally grown food, meant Navajo citizens were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. At one point in 2020, the Navajo Nation had the highest rate of COVID-19 infections per capita in the United States.
ECE professor Kelly Simmons-Potter is leading an effort to combat these disparities by making fresh food more readily available to the Navajo Nation. With the support of a $50,000 gift from the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society, her team is developing an off-grid electrical system at the Diné College Land Grant Office on the Navajo Nation. They will use the system to renovate a hoop house (a type of greenhouse design) and support access to locally grown produce.
“Being able to control your food resources is an incredible, liberating ability,” Simmons-Potter said. “We are so grateful to IEEE for this gift. It’s a game-changer in terms of being able to implement and see a project like this through. We have a large group of people coming together to support student research and community food production.”
The hoop house renovation is part of the Indigenous Food, Energy and Water Security and Sovereignty (Indige-FEWSS) program, which combines research internships, teaching and cultural immersion to develop the next generation of scientists and engineers. Simmons-Potter’s collaborators include Karletta Chief, Indige-FEWSS principal investigator and University Distinguished Outreach Professor of environmental science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Murat Kacira, Director of the UA Controlled Environment Agriculture Center; Vicky Karanikola, assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering; and Benedict Columbi, associate professor of American Indian Studies.
“It’s so exciting to be able to combine forces with Indige-FEWSS professors and fellow trainees to collaboratively solve food, energy and water access issues,” said Frances Willberg, ECE graduate student and an Indige-FEWSS trainee. “Working on the solar energy portion of this project has shown me how interconnected these three essential resources are. We are immensely grateful for this generous gift from IEEE and how it will enable us to make our design a reality.”
Additional ECE Hoop House Renovation Project graduate student participants include Kyle Boyer and Manuelito Chief.