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Steve Grey
Steve Grey is a mechanical engineer who is working on a project to bring electricity to many of the homes in the Navajo reservation, where approximately half of the homes have no electricity. Steve is uniquely qualified to understand the importance of this project - he grew up on the reservation in a home with no electricity, which made reading or doing homework at night difficult. He also understands the importance of involving the Navajo people in decisions, because of his experience as a boy watching a construction project on the reservation. In particular, he remembers watching white managers giving instructions to Navajo laborers. With his degree in mechanical engineering and his strong cultural heritage, Steve understands the possible conflicts that may arise between modern technology and the cultural values of the Navajo people.The wind farm project seems to Steve and his colleagues to be the solution to several problems. First, the windmills will bring electricity to people who need it. Second, the project will be managed by Navajos, not outsiders. For Steve, this is a very important feature of the project because it means that the Navajos will have a strong voice in the engineering decisions. Third, the windmills will be environmentally sound, unlike strip mining, which detrimentally affects the coal industry, the Navajo people's source of income. Additionally, a wind farm could produce excess power that could be sold to nearby utilities to generate income.
As the head of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's American Indian Program, Steve manages a field office at Navajo Community College in Shiprock, New Mexico. He sees his role as two-sided. On one hand, he is working to increase scientific job opportunities for Native Americans, and to support the education of Native-American science and engineering students. On the other hand, he wants to use his position to teach other staff members at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab about the values and culture of Native Americans.
Steve travels around the Navajo nation and across the country pursuing his goal of building a wind farm on the reservation. In Washington, D.C., he talks to political leaders about his proposal; in Shiprock, he speaks with the elders of the tribe to address their concerns about the project and to explain how his plan will not have a negative effect on the environment. He is very active in many causes that support the interests of the Navajo people, including the Department of Education's Indian Policy Committee, the New Mexico State Advisory Board for Science and Technology, and the Corporate Advisory Board for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES).
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