Rob Pyatt, Instructor and Research Associate, will lead a new trans-disciplinary design program: “Designing for People and Place: Sustainable & Affordable Housing for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation” through the Native American Sustainable Housing Initiative (NASHI) at the University of Colorado, an interdisciplinary collaboration of faculty and students seeking to improve housing conditions on tribal lands through research, education and outreach activities. Specifically, this initiative establishes a sustainable, affordable and culturally appropriate housing research, design and demonstration home project on the Oglala Lakota College (OLC) campus as the foundation for an ongoing academic service-learning program between the CU Environmental Design program and the Construction Technology program at OLC. The overall objective of the project will be to develop a comprehensive case study to help inform the future housing choices for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and an “applied research” laboratory to educate OLC and CU students in the design and construction of sustainable, affordable, culturally inclusive and regionally appropriate housing.