Conference: Elevating Indigenous Knowledges in Ecology

尽管生态学在上个世纪取得了巨大的进步，但作为一门正式的科学学科，它还是一门相对较新的学科。 生态学家开发了复杂的方法和尖端技术来研究自然的复杂性。 即便如此，他们所依赖的记录并不能追溯到很久以前，这意味着生态学家对自然现象的看法相对有限。 土著知识（IKs），或土著传统生态知识（ITEK），相比之下，提供了一个更深入和更全面的观点对特定的地方。 这些生态观点使土著社区在欧洲殖民之前生存和繁荣了数千年。 这种知识的重要性已在几个广为宣传的案例中得到说明，如美国西部和澳大利亚森林的火灾管理。 生态学家通常不接受IKs，但这种情况正在开始改变。 核心问题是，大多数生态学家在培训中没有遇到土著居民，也不了解与土著社区和知识持有者合作的社会和伦理挑战。 本次研讨会的目标是为生态学家建立一条既有利于科学探究又有利于土著社区的土著知识之路。本次研讨会将汇集土著学者和专业人士，讨论如何加快对土著知识的作用的认识，以更好地了解自然世界，以及如何以互利互惠的方式做到这一点。 研讨会将包括知名学者和专业人士，以及研究生和早期职业人士。 与会者将提出所有生态学家应该知道的关键要素，以及关注的领域，如土著权利和主权，知识/数据主权，文化尊重以及社会和经济问题。 与会者将把这些要素汇编成一份大纲草案，在美国生态学会年会的一个公开研讨会上提交给更广泛的生态界。纲要草案以及公开研讨会的反馈意见将通过出版物、网络研讨会和单页摘要等渠道进行汇编和传播。 这些产品可以纳入生态学家在所有职业阶段的专业发展活动，并将作为继续对话的种子。 同样重要的是，由此产生的产品将增加科学研究和知识创造的多样性和包容性，并将扩大土著社区的研究能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为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来支持。

For all its advances over the last century, ecology is a relative newcomer as a formal scientific discipline. Ecologists have developed sophisticated methods and cutting-edge technologies to study the complexities of nature. Even so, the records they rely on do not go very far back in time, which means that ecologists have a relatively limited view of natural phenomena. Indigenous knowledges (IKs), or Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK), in contrast, provide a much deeper and more holistic perspective on particular places. These ecological viewpoints allowed Indigenous communities to survive and thrive for millennia prior to European colonization. The importance of such knowledge has been illustrated in several well-publicized cases, such as fire management in forests of the western United States and Australia. Ecologists have generally not embraced IKs, but that is beginning to change. The central problem is that most ecologists do not encounter IKs in their training, nor do they understand the social and ethical challenges in collaborating with Indigenous communities and knowledge holders. The goal of this workshop is to build a path to IK for ecologists in a way that benefits both scientific inquiry and Indigenous communities.This workshop will bring together Indigenous scholars and professionals to discuss how to accelerate awareness of the roles of IKs to achieve a better understanding of the natural world and how to do so in a mutually beneficial, reciprocal way. The workshop will include well-established scholars and professionals, as well as graduate students and early career individuals. Participants will suggest key elements that all ecologists should know, and areas of concern, such as Indigenous rights and sovereignty, knowledge/data sovereignty, cultural respect, and social and economic issues. Participants will assemble these elements into a draft outline to be presented to the broader ecological community during an open workshop at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America. The draft outline, plus feedback from the open workshop will be compiled and disseminated through venues such as publications, webinars and one-page summaries. These products can be incorporated into professional development activities for ecologists at all career stages and will serve as a seed for continued conversations. Equally important, the resulting products will increase diverse representation and inclusion in the conduct of scientific research and knowledge creation and will expand the research capacity of Indigenous communities.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.