RaMP: Native American Capacity Building to Explore Biological Systems Resilience: Weaving Traditional Ways of Knowing with Western Science

A fundamental question in biology is how are molecular, physiological, ecological, and ecosystem system resilience interrelated – network patterns that are common or divergent across systems and scales. This question is especially urgent in the face of accelerating climate change and other human perturbation to biological systems. The overarching goal of this research is to transform the social, cultural, and intellectual fabric of academia by creating a network connecting universities with local tribes and building a collaborative framework around shared values and scientific goals that engages Indigenous knowledge systems in equitable, non-extractive ways.

This project provides a framework for the development of a suite of projects addressing many levels of biological resilience in systems relevant to Tribal partners and builds intellectual and cultural relationships that will integrate subdisciplines in biology and different ways of knowing. This project’s Indigenous RaMP postbaccalaureate mentees will engage in respectful, relational, reciprocal, and responsible projects developed with Tribes, mentors, and co-mentors to meet Tribal needs.

This work will honor and uphold Indigenous knowledge by fully engaging Tribal nations and people at every step of project development. Ultimately, this project will lay the groundwork for land-grant institutions in the US to honor and uphold Indigenous knowledge by fully engaging Tribal nations and people at every step of project development so Indigenous systems can be applied together with Western knowledge systems to shed new light on biological systems resilience.

This work will intertwine Western scientific approaches to learning about biological systems resilience with Indigenous knowledge to train mentees in the Indigenous paradigm of “two-eyed seeing.” Further, employing Indigenous research methodologies in the project will enable participants (mentees, mentors, and co-mentors) to explore the cultural theme of Tribal nation building in academia. Within this program, there will be full integration of Tribal sovereignty and self-determination and a spirit of community and public leadership that aligns with long-term decision making.

The project will support ~30 post-bac mentees who identify as Native American/Native Alaskan/Indigenous. Mentees will be supported in developing scientific, professional, and cultural skills that will position them to pursue further education or STEM activities in and with tribal communities. Biological systems of study will range from the molecular to the landscape and ecosystem scales, including mechanisms of salmon hatchery resilience, long-term agroforestry disease resistance, and the impacts of soil health and stewardship on tribal food sovereignty.

Engaging in Tribal research capacity building, can serve as a model for the process of interaction between Tribes and universities. Finally, understanding the properties of resilient human-ecological systems is of urgent importance in our rapidly changing world.

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.