Awards Program

AISES Professional Awards Program

2023 Awardees

AISES Professional of the Year: Joseph “Joey” Owle (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians)

The AISES Professional of the Year Award is presented for overall leadership and technical achievement. Because this individual is selected from among the top candidates submitted in all categories, individual nominations for this award are not accepted.

Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources Joseph “Joey” Owle, of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), is the AISES 2023 Professional of the Year. Secretary Owle is responsible for a range of environmental resources, regulatory, and renewable energy initiatives for this tribal nation of more than 16,000 citizens. His team worked to bring the first electric school bus in the entire state of North Carolina to the EBCI reservation, known as the Qualla Boundary. This process involved multiple buses as well as solar power, and Owle also helped the tribe’s casino set up a solar farm to offset its electricity usage. Secretary Owle oversees a staff of more than 30 people, interacts with the tribe’s executive and legislative branches, and coordinates with all levels of local and national government agencies. Besides leading coordination of the EBCI agricultural economic development plan, he has lobbied for millions of dollars for a new tribal fisheries program, new cannery, and stream restoration. After a period of advocacy, Owle and multiple partners have raised $10 million to decommission and remove the hydroelectric Ela Dam that, for 100 years, has blocked Oconaluftee River connectivity and fish migrations to EBCI lands. With a master’s degree in crop science, Owle was born and raised in Cherokee, NC, and in 2017 was appointed the very first secretary of the EBCI Agriculture and Natural Resources Division by Principal Chief Richard Sneed.

Executive Excellence Award: John Desjarlais (Nehinaw Metis)

This category is for Indigenous senior executives who are in upper-level management or is an experienced engineer, scientist, professional, or academician. The category includes budget concept, management practice, technical achievement, and contributions to business.

AISES 2023 Executive Excellence awardee John Desjarlais has 20-plus years of experience helping Indigenous communities maximize their resources and land in ways that are sustainable, respectful, and helps them thrive. He is executive director of Indigenous Resource Network, a platform for Indigenous workers, business owners, and leaders who support environmentally responsible projects that have the consent and involvement of the communities most affected go ahead. With 15 years of his own engineering experience, Desjarlais in 2022 became the first Indigenous president of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan, a provincial regulatory body involving 15,000 engineers and geoscientists. He previously served as general manager of Great Plains Contracting, an industrial construction company and First Nations partnership focused on industrial mining and energy. Desjarlais is Nehinaw (Cree)-Metis from Kaministikominahikoskak (Cumberland House), Saskatchewan, and has been honored numerous times for volunteer work promoting Indigenous education, self-determination, and reconciliation. He is a co-founder of the Canadian Indigenous Advisory Council guiding the AISES network in Canada.

Technical Excellence: Keith Parker (Yurok)

The Technical Excellence nominee must have made a significant contribution to science, engineering, or technology by having designed, developed, managed, or assisted in the development of a product, service, system, or intellectual property.

Keith Parker is the AISES 2023 Technical Excellence awardee. He is a senior fisheries biologist for his Yurok Tribe, working at the intersection of Western and Indigenous science. Parker is a frequent speaker on the impact of climate change and drought on salmon populations, and witnessed the largest adult fish kill in U.S. history (68,000 adult Chinook salmon) on the Klamath River in 2002. The kill was due to unjust water flow management relative to multiple river dams; and today the Yurok Tribe is preparing for the nation’s largest-ever dam removal project, which will reopen 400 miles of Klamath fish habitat. In childhood, Parker watched his grandfather protest federal bans on tribal fishing rights; and ironically, he is responsible now for co-stewarding the Klamath River’s 44 miles through the Yurok reservation. He also has family in Karuk, Hupa and Tolowa communities. A participant in AISES’ Lighting the Pathway Indigenous research career program, Parker’s own research has combined thousands of generations of scientific tribal observation with cutting-edge genetic sequencing. In 2018, he discovered two new subspecies, or ecotypes, of Pacific lamprey (a jawless fish that resembles an eel)—one that matures in the river and one that matures in the ocean. Lamprey has great cultural and historical value to Pacific Northwest tribes.

Most Promising Engineer: Aurora White (Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians)

Nominees for the Most Promising Engineer or Scientist Award must be a professional engineer or scientist with less than five years of workforce experience after earning a professional degree. The candidate’s early technical contributions must indicate a promising career.

Aurora White loves hands-on work, whether it’s being in a vehicle as a calibration engineer or building furniture at her mom’s house. As the AISES 2023 Most Promising Engineer, White works for Stellantis N.V., a multinational automotive company and mobility provider that includes Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Fiat brands. White has worked in a variety of such engineering roles as instrumentation and diagnostics, receiving numerous awards for leading projects in vehicle testing and analysis. She earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, received a Design for Six Sigma Green Belt certification, and was selected for a new Stellantis leadership development program in 2022. White now serves on that program’s board, while serving as treasurer for the Indigenous Cultural Opportunity Network, a Stellantis business resource group. White helps coordinate multiple Indigenous education activities internally and STEM outreach externally. The youngest of four children growing up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, White recalls finding her life purpose at age 7 when she was gifted her first traditional dance regalia. The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Ojibwe tribal member learned early that she had to work hard to attain her goals, and is grateful to AISES for easing a sometimes lonely journey of education. Her future interest is in automotive electrification, while also promoting Indigenous values into design and the workplace.

Blazing Flame: Heather Heckler (Brothertown Indian Nation)

As its name suggests, the Blazing Flame Award is presented to an individual who “blazes” a path for Indigenous people in STEM careers. This award recognizes individuals with 10 or more years of professional experience with significant accomplishments in advancing STEM education and careers.

Heather Heckler is the 2023 AISES Blazing Flame awardee. At General Motors, she is president of the company’s Indigenous Peoples Network, leading GM’s efforts to provide STEM activities for Indigenous youth across the country. As a volunteer, Heckler has served in this employee resource group leadership role for 16 years, continuously advocating for more support within the company. She is a mainstay at AISES events, including coordinating ongoing youth engagement at AISES STEM Days, supporting GM recruitment, and serving on the AISES Corporate Advisory Council. In her day job, Heckler is a subject matter expert in industrial engineering with 28 years of experience. With a master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, she currently leads a global team to define computer application needs and provides engineering training in manufacturing plants. Even as a high school student, she provided critical computer training to workers at her Shawano, Wisconsin, hometown’s biggest employer, a food systems plant. As a steadfast advocate for Indigenous representation and advancement, Heckler follows in the footsteps of her maternal grandfather, a leader of the Brothertown Indian Nation. He advocated for tribal recognition of their tribe, the only one based in Wisconsin that is not federally recognized, due to a complex history of migration and interaction with the U.S. Government.

Indigenous Excellence Award: Ashley Lomboy (Waccamaw Siouan)

The Indigenous Excellence Award acknowledges an individual who has done substantial work for 10 or more years to advance programs and opportunities for Indigenous students and professionals within their Indigenous community and/or in support of Indigenous people at the national level.

In 2019, Ashley Lomboy founded Waccamaw Siouan STEM Studio, a program that aims to increase community understanding of STEM, while providing STEM opportunities to Indigenous youth. Lomboy is the recipient of the AISES 2023 Indigenous Excellence award. With 22 years of information technology (I/T) and computer science experience, Lomboy’s “day job” is global information security manager for Corning, Inc. She also leads the Corning Native American Council. In order to provide community-based STEM exploration, the STEM Studio involves marshalling a multidisciplinary team of science, math, engineering, and I/T instructor-role models, as well as several sponsor-partners that include universities and museums. STEM Studio has delivered more than 40 program events, encompassing tribal culture, language, history, and STEM (ranging from robotics to reforestation), while celebrating and educating about Indigenous people’s contributions to STEM. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Lomboy arranged for her Waccamaw Siouan Tribe to distribute 185 STEM activity kits to Indigenous youth. Lomboy is an active volunteer board member and community leader in southeast North Carolina, advocating on such issues as Indigenous Peoples Day and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Lomboy is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.