CNH2-L: Wild Rice: A Flagship for Co-Creating Socio-Ecological Knowledge of Indigenous Resource Management

北方野生稻（manoomin）生长在北美五大湖地区的湖泊和河流中，是土著和非土著人民在文化上重要的食物，同时也是生态系统健康的一个指标。由于环境压力因素、文化价值观、公共政策和人类实践的综合影响，整个地区的生态系统健康状况都出现了下降。该项目旨在通过跨学科的方法和共同生产知识来了解manoomin下降的社会和环境原因。研究人员计划利用科学和本土知识的整合来克服理解复杂相互作用的障碍。这项研究将特别针对环境与不同文化价值观、政策和实践之间相互作用的影响。该项目是部落和大学科学家之间的伙伴关系，通过将土著知识纳入研究，包括社会生态系统中的土著世界观。最终，该项目将产生必要的科学理解，以恢复这些文化和经济上重要的生态系统，同时将当地的声音纳入生态系统管理。将manomin理解为一种社会环境系统将产生更广泛的影响，包括恢复大湖地区这一重要资源，并建立一个适用于全球土著资源问题的合作研究和管理框架。这个跨学科的合作研究项目有三个相互依存的组成部分：环境、社会和综合。社会部分的目标是通过调查、深度访谈、口述历史和对该地区部落和非部落采集者、自然资源管理者和马诺米加工者的焦点小组，了解人类价值观、政策和做法对马诺米生态系统的影响。环境部分的目标是利用综合区域数据和通过从受损水域到生产性水域的四个研究地点的实地调查收集的新数据，开发综合生态系统模型。这些生态系统模型将显示水位、营养物、沉积物和植被之间的反馈如何影响马诺米的生长。综合部分的目标是建立将土著知识和科学纳入自然资源管理的理论和方法。项目小组将与部落社区成员反复合作，共同开发社会生态模型，审查土地利用、水和植被管理做法对马诺米人健康的影响。他们还将在自己的研究伙伴关系内进行访谈和焦点小组讨论，包括部落和非部落的研究人员以及自然资源管理人员。这将为寻求发展自己的合作研究伙伴关系的其他研究人员和部落社区提供见解。它将进一步产生对整个生态系统功能和多司法管辖区/文化相互作用的见解，这将促进跨学科知识的发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Northern wild rice (manoomin) grows in the lakes and rivers of the North American Great Lakes region and is a culturally important food for indigenous and non-native people, while also serving as an indicator of ecosystem health. A decline in ecosystem health has been observed across the region, a result of a mix of environmental stressors, cultural values, public policies, and human practices. This project seeks to understand the social and environmental causes of manoomin decline using an interdisciplinary approach and by co-producing knowledge. The investigators plan to use an integration of science and indigenous knowledge to overcome obstacles to understanding the complex interactions. The study will specifically target the influence of interactions among the environment and diverse cultural values, policies, and practices. The project is a partnership between tribes and university scientists and includes an indigenous worldview in social ecosystems by incorporating indigenous knowledge in the research. Ultimately this project will produce scientific understanding needed to restore these culturally and economically important ecosystems while incorporating native voices in ecosystem management. Understanding manoomin as a social-environmental system will generate broader impacts that include restoration of this important resource in the Great Lakes region and a framework for collaborative research and management applicable to Indigenous resource issues globally. This interdisciplinary collaborative research project has three interdependent components: environmental, social, and integrative. The goal of the social component is to understand the influences of human values, policies, and practices on manoomin ecosystems through surveys, in-depth interviews, oral histories, and focus groups with tribal and non-tribal harvesters, natural resource managers, and manoomin processors in the region. The goal of the environmental component is to develop integrative ecosystem models using a synthesis of regional data and new data collected through fieldwork at four study sites spanning from impaired to productive manoomin waters. These ecosystem models will show how feedback among water levels, nutrients, sediments, and vegetation influence manoomin growth. The goal of the integrative component is to establish theories and methods for integrating indigenous knowledge and science into natural resource management. The project team will work iteratively with tribal community members to co-develop social-ecological models that examine the influence of land-use, water, and vegetation management practices on manoomin health. They will also conduct interviews and focus groups within their own research partnership, comprising tribal and non-tribal researchers and natural resource managers. This will provide insight to other researchers and tribal communities seeking to develop their own collaborative research partnerships. It will further generate insights into whole-ecosystem function and multi-jurisdictional/cultural interactions that will advance knowledge across disciplines.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.