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

北方野生稻(Manoomin)生长在北美大湖区的湖泊和河流中，对土著和非土著人民来说是一种重要的文化食物，同时也是生态系统健康的指标。由于环境压力、文化价值观、公共政策和人类实践的综合作用，整个区域的生态系统健康状况都出现了下降。这个项目试图用跨学科的方法，通过共同产生知识，来理解人类衰退的社会和环境原因。研究人员计划利用科学和本土知识的结合来克服理解复杂相互作用的障碍。这项研究将专门针对环境与不同文化价值观、政策和实践之间的相互作用的影响。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，将土著世界观纳入社会生态系统。最终，该项目将产生恢复这些具有文化和经济重要性的生态系统所需的科学理解，同时将土著声音纳入生态系统管理。将Manoomin理解为一种社会-环境系统将产生更广泛的影响，包括恢复大湖区的这一重要资源，以及适用于全球土著资源问题的合作研究和管理框架。这一跨学科协作研究项目有三个相互依赖的组成部分：环境、社会和综合。社会部分的目标是通过调查、深度访谈、口述历史和与该地区部落和非部落收割机、自然资源管理人员和马诺明加工者的焦点小组，了解人类价值观、政策和做法对马诺明生态系统的影响。环境部分的目标是综合区域数据和通过实地工作在四个研究地点收集的新数据，开发综合的生态系统模型，这些研究地点横跨从受损水域到多产水域。这些生态系统模型将展示水位、营养物质、沉积物和植被之间的反馈如何影响Manoomin的生长。综合部分的目标是建立将本土知识和科学纳入自然资源管理的理论和方法。项目团队将与部落社区成员反复合作，共同开发社会生态模型，研究土地利用、水和植被管理做法对人的健康的影响。他们还将在自己的研究伙伴关系内进行访谈和重点小组，由部落和非部落研究人员以及自然资源管理人员组成。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洞察力。它将进一步产生对整个生态系统功能和多个司法管辖区/文化互动的洞察，这将促进跨学科的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.