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In high school, Katherine Shone couldn’t picture herself where she is now – confident in how much is still possible.
The student from Kettle and Stony Point First Nation watched her grades slip during the pandemic. Struggling with her mental health, she quietly gave up on the idea of university. Shone later trained and then worked as a dental assistant for several years, before restlessness began gnawing at her. She kept telling herself to ignore it.
The feeling wouldn’t budge.
“I wanted to be on the other side of the chair. I wanted to be a dentist,” she said.
Shone now has a pathway to the future she wants, as a student in the Indigenous Student STEM Access Program (ISSAP) at Western University. ISSAP is a dedicated track for Indigenous students to pursue programs related to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
“The ISSAP Program has given me a new beginning,” Shone said. “It’s helped me overcome challenges from my past and shown me that I belong here. I’ve done so many things this year I never thought I would do.”
Katherine Shone, a student in the Indigenous Student STEM Access Program, is studying toward a career in dentistry. (Colleen MacDonald/Western News)
Smaller, culturally appropriate classes help students gain the high school prerequisites for engineering and science. They also take undergraduate courses alongside those Grade 11 and 12 classes, a combination that helps students transition successfully to post-secondary studies and acclimate to university life through the course of the program.
After completing ISSAP, and with strong enough grades, students can move into a first-year engineering or science program at Western.
Shone is now studying to enter a Western Health Sciences program combined with Indigenous studies, and has her sights set even higher than before.
“The dentist I worked with specializes in surgeries. She helped me realize I don’t want to be a general dentist. I want to be a maxillofacial surgeon. It will be about eight years of study, but that’s okay – I love school now,” Shone said.
Wraparound supports help students succeed
A key support in her transition has been Lissette Ochoa, an academic advisor who works with each ISSAP student to design a plan for success.
“Lissette was the first person to lay out a clear plan for me,” Shone said.
Ochoa also keeps students connected to the program’s wraparound supports, beyond academics. Students can access financial counselling, social work services, tutoring, Elders, mentors and cultural restoration programming throughout their education at Western.
“I’ll always be there to check in with them,” Ochoa said. “I’m still in touch with students who are now in their second and third year. I help them stay connected to their resources, like the Indigenous Students Centre. It’s like a home away from home for them.”
Now in its third year, ISSAP supports 11 Indigenous students in STEM – its largest cohort yet. Funding secured through the Mastercard Foundation has guaranteed the program’s continuation for the next four years. The funding, part of a $5-million investment to Western, provides the stability needed to build on ISSAP’s successes and help even more students discover their potential to excel in engineering and science.
A bridge to university science and engineering programs
CJ Antone, who grew up near Forest, Ont., and is a member of Oneida Nation of the Thames, didn’t feel ready for post-secondary education. When he shared his hesitation with his mom, she started looking for options to develop his aptitude for math and science, and found ISSAP.
CJ Antone is one of 11 students in the 2025-26 cohort of the Indigenous Student STEM Access Program at Western University. (Colleen MacDonald/Western News)
“Engineering seemed like a natural fit for me and ISSAP offered a good entry point to ease into post-secondary,” Antone said. “The program lets me focus on adjusting to city life and the university experience.”
Opportunities to take classes outside of STEM also appealed to Antone. He credits a psychology course with teaching him to read people more perceptively and a philosophy class with challenging the assumptions beneath his beliefs.
“Those classes totally changed how I think about life,” he said.
Overall, ISSAP reinforced his interest in Western Engineering, helping him see a future as a mechanical engineer.
“It’s a tough program sometimes, but I’m going to be able to do it,” Antone said.
Why Indigenous students in STEM matter
Students with a 75 per cent cumulative average or higher in ISSAP can transfer directly into first-year science or engineering once they complete the transition program. This pathway matters, because Indigenous people remain significantly underrepresented in Canadian engineering and science programs, and make up less than one per cent of all engineers in Canada.
Dennis Michaelson, Western engineering professor
That gap carries broader consequences, too, says Western engineering professor Dennis Michaelson, one of only a handful of Indigenous faculty members in engineering across Canada.
“When Indigenous people are underrepresented in engineering, that leads to fewer Indigenous grad students and professors who can show Indigenous students that they belong in the profession,” he said.
Michaelson says ISSAP serves an important role to prepare more Indigenous students for engineering programs. He believes their greater presence would bring perspectives that help foster sustainable practices when engineering intersects with the land and the environment.
“We don’t see ourselves at the top of the natural world, with everything else there to serve us. Rather, we are a part of it. That shift in framing, from exploitation to relationship, is needed in engineering,” he said. “Understanding an Indigenous community’s priorities from their perspective helps build the relationships essential for mutually beneficial and respectful development projects.”
It’s that focus on relationships and shared understanding that helps drive Shone as she considers her future as a dentist. Alongside technical expertise, she wants to hone skill in patient-centred conversations to build trust with Indigenous patients who may feel vulnerable in clinical settings.
“Dentistry is associated with a lot of trauma in Indigenous communities,” she said. “I think about people who were strapped down during dentist visits as children. They don’t feel safe with a dentist unless they know everything that’s going to happen. I want to understand their trauma so I’m not adding to it.”
Now, her ultimate goal is to open a dental office on Kettle and Stony Point First Nation where traditional knowledge and cultural safety informs the practice. For Shone and other ISSAP students, the power of the program is making dreams that may have felt out of reach feel achievable.
“The ISSAP program helps build you up and break down past barriers. I’m really grateful for it.”
Is ISSAP your pathway to an engineering or science program at Western?
Connect with Lissette Ochoa or Arielle Bressette to learn more about the ISSAP Program.
