IRES Track II: Multidisciplinary Training on Wildlife and Natural Resource Conservation From an Indigenous Perspective

目前在保护科学方面的突破突出了将本土知识与西方科学相结合的至关重要性，以应对生物多样性保护的复杂挑战。有必要不断地将土著人的认知方式与西方的生物多样性保护科学方法相结合;然而，土著人口在科学领域的代表性严重不足。该项目通过为美国原住民学生提供机会，利用他们的背景，同时通过参加印度两个为期13天的高级研究所（ASI），从其他知识体系中获得科学专业知识和全球经验，满足了这一需求，该研究所专注于提供野生动物管理和自然资源保护科学方面的实践和实地研究和学习机会。每个ASI每年将有10名美国研究生参与，来自印度的参与者数量相同。美国的参与者仅限于那些谁确定为美洲原住民;通过竞争过程中选择。ASI的目标是通过在野生动物和自然资源保护科学领域的重大国际合作研究培训，指导和网络，为美洲原住民研究生提供全球视野和专业成长的机会。该项目的意义在于，它汇集了美国原住民学生，印度学生和来自美国和印度的教师，提供旨在建立美国原住民学生在社会和生物物理科学方面的能力的多元文化，动态的学习体验。该项目还提供了一个机会，传统上代表性不足的学生群体与其他土著学生在建设社区和全球意识，他们的独特的观点是需要帮助解决复杂的问题，不仅在美国和印度，但在世界各地的工作。ASI将培训学生在国际范围内进行多学科研究，培养处于世界保护和野生动物管理科学前沿的年轻专业人员。然后，这些学生将有能力应用他们的科学背景，以促进美国原住民土地和人民的健康和福利。ASI的研究主题是建立在社会生态系统思想，包括社会和生物物理科学。ASI将涵盖技术方面、生物物理方面和人的方面。这些包括土著和参与性的保护，保护生物学，景观生态学，生态恢复和野生动物管理的观点。该项目将科学和技术结合起来，考虑到生态原则和环境条件，目的是平衡野生动物的需求和人民的需求。学生将首先在课堂上学习这些主题，然后通过利用我们的合作机构，印度野生动物研究所（WII），野生动物管理和自然资源保护科学应用研究的全球领导者提供的独特研究设施和实地经验。学生将在前往印度之前参加虚拟会议和研讨会。在印度期间，将鼓励参与者参加文化体验，使他们了解印度的历史和文化，为他们的工作提供背景。将为助理秘书长建立一个网上虚拟学习平台，用于征聘、参与者联网、虚拟会议和讲习班，该项目由美国国家科学基金会国际科学与工程办公室（OISE）和刺激竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Current breakthroughs in conservations sciences highlight the critical importance of integrating indigenous ways of knowing with western science in order to address the complex challenges of biodiversity conservation. There is a need to continually blend Indigenous ways of knowing with western scientific approaches to biodiversity conservation; however, Indigenous populations are severely underrepresented in scientific fields. This project fills that need by providing opportunities for Native American students to use their backgrounds while gaining scientific expertise and global experience from other knowledge systems by participating in two, 13-day Advanced Study Institutes (ASI’s) in India that focus on providing hands-on and field-based research and learning opportunities in wildlife management and natural resource conservation sciences. Each ASI will have 10 U.S. graduate student participants and the same number of participants from India per year. U.S. participants are limited to those who identify as Native American; to be chosen through a competitive process. The objective of the ASI’s is to provide Native American graduate students a global perspective and opportunities for professional growth through significant international collaborative research training, mentoring and networking in the fields of wildlife and natural resource conservation sciences. The significance of this project is that it brings together Native American students, Indian students, and faculty from the US and India to provide a multi-cultural, dynamic learning experience designed to build the competencies of Native American students in social and biophysical sciences. This project also offers an opportunity for a traditionally underrepresented student population to work with fellow Indigenous students in building community and global awareness where their unique perspective is needed to help solve complex problems not only in the U.S. and in India, but worldwide. The ASI’s will train students to conduct multidisciplinary research in an international context, building young professionals who will be at the forefront of world conservation and wildlife management sciences. These students will then be equipped to apply their scientific background to advance the health and welfare of Native American lands and people. The research themes for the ASI’s are founded in social-ecological systems thinking and include social and biophysical sciences. The ASI’s will cover technical aspects, biophysical aspects and human dimensions. These include indigenous and participatory perspectives on conservation, conservation biology, landscape ecology, ecological restoration, and wildlife management. The project provides the integration of science and technologies to consider both ecological principles and environmental conditions with the aim of balancing the needs of wildlife with the needs of the people. Students will study each of these themes first in the classroom and then through field experiences by leveraging the unique research facilities and field sites available through our partner institution, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), a global leader in applied research in wildlife management and natural resource conservation sciences. Students will participate in a virtual conference and workshop before traveling to India. While in India, participants will be encouraged to participate in cultural experiences that will expose them to the history and culture of India, providing context to their work. A web-based virtual learning platform will be built for the ASIs and used for recruitment, participant networking, virtual conferences and workshops, and provide a summary of the activities and outcomes.This project is jointly funded by the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.