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KGOU •

Jones Academy students await return of Choctaw Nation heirloom seeds from space

Seeds of Sweet potato squash (isito), Smith peas (tobi), flour corn (tanchi tohbi), lambsquarter greens (tvnishi), and Choctaw peas (chukfi), traveled with Choctaw families to Oklahoma from their ancestral homelands on the Trail of Tears.

Now, the Choctaw Nation’s Growing Hope seed bank has sent seeds from these traditional plants for a science experiment on the International Space Station. With the help of Boeing and Oklahoma State University, they were sent out last November on SpaceX’s 29th
KGOU •

Climate scientists need collaboration with tribal communities for solutions, OU study shows

The study, published by the American Meteorological Society, says tribal nations like the Otoe-Missouria are nearly 70% more susceptible to flooding than the general population in Oklahoma.

OU’s School of Meteorology and the Department of Native American Studies collaborated on the research, using regional climate models and flash flood models to help make climate-related risk assessments and recommendations for Native lands.

Zhi Li is the study's lead author and a recent meteorology school gr
KGOU •

Choctaw Nation receives $2 million in federal grants for climate pollution reduction

The Choctaw Nation received $2 million in federal grants from the EPA. The grants will be used to assess the cleanup of abandoned properties, greenhouse gas emissions, and viable climate solutions on tribal lands.

According to Tye Baker, the Choctaw Nation’s Senior Director of Environmental Protection Services, projects will start soon that will focus on reducing GHG and cleaning up the Talihina Indian Hospital Campus in Latimer County.
KGOU •

Nation’s first cobalt and nickel refinery breaks ground in Lawton, Oklahoma

The metals refinery startup, Westwin Elements, is building the nation’s first cobalt and nickel refinery in Lawton. The Bartlesville-based company is set to start building no later than October.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, and principal investor of Westwin Elements Dennis Muelinburg, broke ground on the refinery on Tuesday, calling it a matter of national security.

This comes at a time when, according to the International Energy Agency, The Democratic Republic of the Congo and China are responsible for
KOSU •

How Oklahoma farmers and landscapers adapt to extreme heat and severe weather

Micha Anderson has 11 acres of pecan trees and a half acre of fruits and vegetables on his farm in Piedmont, Oklahoma. Anderson has farmed his whole life in the state.

He grew up on a farm in Haskell, Oklahoma, where his grandmother taught him how to raise cattle, pigs and chickens, and how to grow sweet potatoes, watermelons and other crops.

Anderson also works as an extension agent for Langston University, where he teaches the next generation of Black farmers how to grow their own food and h
Nieman Storyboard •

Two anti-racist scholars and writers take on the cultural limits of "objectivity"

As an early-career environmental journalist, I guessed that objectivity was the most important goal in the field. But as a poet finishing up an MFA at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, this kind of writing doesn’t come naturally to me. Poetry requires that I use the first-person pronoun a lot, and when I do, I often get frustrated because I want to tell a narrative that means something to the collective “we.” Journalism challenges my comfort zone and urges me to become a more versatile wr