The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (2023) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (2020) has contracted PICEA and Dr. Chas Jones to perform customized research on the Tribal economic needs associated with climate impacts for coastal Tribes.

Keeping abreast of the cutting edge research and technological needs will help guide tomorrow's innovators and entrepreneurs as they seek to maximize their impact. PICEA helping to develop a roadmap through a research effort with VertueLab, which is at the forefront of climate innovation. In this report, we identified opportunities for technical innovation to assist Tribal communities in climate resilience efforts.

The synthesis of complex information and facilitating groups to reach common goals are challenging efforts that PICEA excels at. We are guiding staff from six Tribal Nations to develop a collaborative research proposal for a federal project which requires skills in facilitation and participatory leadership to navigate the sensitive nature of the effort.

We are working with numerous clients that wish to engage with Tribes more effectively and ethically. It is common that organizations approach PICEA because they sincerely wish to work with Tribal Nations more effectively, but they simply do not know how to do so. PICEA's team has the experience, knowledge, and relationships to help our clients engage with Tribes in a good way.

As one example of many, The Trust for Public Land and the Santa Fe Indian School worked with PICEA to develop a large grant proposal to implement the school's climate resilience plans which includes transforming the school grounds into vibrant, green Community Schoolyards™ and expanding the community engagement process. 

Dr. Chas Jones envisioned and worked in collaboration with colleagues to develop and deliver Tribal relations workshops designed to enable non-Tribal partners to work more effectively with Tribal Nations on clean energy projects.

The Affiliated Tribes of NW Indians worked with Dr. Chas Jones to plan numerous Tribal climate and energy related events including the National Tribal Leaders Climate Summit (2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, & 2024), the Tribal Climate Camps (2017, 2019, 2022, 2023a, 2023b, & 2024), and the Tribal Clean Energy Summit (2023).

PICEA continues to invest in the training of tomorrow's Tribal workforce by hosting climate fellows and interns. We have successfully trained more than a dozen climate interns and fellows and are committed to the mentorship and job placement of early career scientists and policy makers.