Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge

气候变化和其他人类影响对生物多样性的威胁越来越大，迫使科学家认识到承认和利用土著人民传统生态知识和战略的重要性，他们几千年来一直生活在各自的生态系统中。传统生态知识的研究和整合在与许多土著群体的传统家园合作和工作的保护生物学家中越来越受欢迎。然而，这些成功在很大程度上是在没有完全理解这些不同形式的知识如何协同工作的情况下取得的。此外，大多数保护举措是由非土著群体和机构制定的。该项目使用土著学者开发的研究方法，了解土著机构如何制定和实施自己的保护目标和政策。 一个同样重要的成果将是了解保护政策如何与传统的土著生活方式，特别是那些以畜牧业为基础的生活方式相互作用。为此，该项目将使用与土著学者合作开发的访谈和调查相结合的方法，以衡量不同群体如何利用他们的知识和经验来实现保护和农业目标。数据收集将集中在纳瓦霍民族渔业和野生动物部和纳瓦霍民族农业部，这是模拟这种知识交流和翻译如何发生的理想机构。这些机构拥有100多年的综合经验，利用传统的纳瓦霍知识和科学知识来发展和实现对国家成员至关重要的保护和管理成果。回答将通过明确呼吁纳瓦霍世界观所独有的知识类别和类型进行分析。通过模拟科学和土著知识的协同作用，通过对个别土著群体的具体观点，在这些领域的未来合作将更加公平，公正，并保持土著群体的自主权和代理权。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Increasing threats to biodiversity from climate change and other human impacts are forcing scientists to realize the importance of acknowledging and utilizing the Traditional Ecological Knowledge and strategies of Indigenous peoples who have lived with and within their respective ecosystems for millennia. Research on and incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge has become increasingly popular among conservation biologists who collaborate with and work within the traditional homelands of many Indigenous groups. However, these successes have largely occurred without a complete understanding of how these different forms of knowledge can work synergistically. Furthermore, most conservation initiatives are developed by non-Indigenous groups and institutions. This project uses research methods developed by Indigenous scholars to understand how Indigenous institutions develop and implement their own conservation goals and policies. An equally important outcome will be understanding how conservation policies interface with traditional Indigenous lifeways, specifically those based in animal agriculture. To this end, the project will use a combination of interviews and surveys developed in collaboration with Indigenous scholars to gauge how different groups leverage their knowledges and experiences to achieve conservation and agricultural goals. Data collection will focus on Navajo Nation Department of Fish and Wildlife and Navajo Nation Department of Agriculture, which are ideal institutions for modeling how this kind of knowledge exchange and translation occurs. These institutions have more than 100 years of combined experience using both traditional Navajo knowledge and scientific knowledge to develop and achieve conservation and management outcomes that are important to the members of the Nation. Responses will be analyzed by appealing explicitly to categories and types of knowledge that are exclusive to Navajo worldviews. By modeling the synergies of scientific and Indigenous knowledge through perspectives specific to individual Indigenous groups, future collaborations in these areas will be more equitable, just, and preserve the autonomy and agency of Indigenous groups.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.