Thomas Jones receives UA Centennial Doctorate Degree Award

Thomas Jones, SNRE PhD student, is one of two recipients of this year's UA Centennial Achievement Award for Doctoral students. The UA Centennial award is one of the university's highest honors, awarded to students who "have demonstrated integrity, overcome significant challenges to achieve their educational goals, and made a contribution to self, community, and family."  Jones dissertation is "Can Native Nation Building Theory Help Address Barriers to Renewable Energy Development on Native American Lands?"

Jones has been named a Carson-Haury Scholar, UA/Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership Scholar, Gates Millennium Scholar, and a BBNC Scholar. He is the recipient of a Udall Native American Congressional Internship, and was a delegate for the United States and UA at the World Parks Congress in 2014. Currently, he is an intern at Sandia National Laboratories, where he conducts research for the Department of Energy's Office of Indian Energy.

In addition to his studies, Jones has created a website, NativeOpportunities for Native students to connect with internships and scholarships, in hopes of encouraging more Native students to obtain advanced degrees as he has.