GRANTED:Connecting FSMLs to Rural and Tribal Communities

Sitka Sound Science Center Inc, Sitka AK

Investigators

Abstract

Alaskan Natives have been observing and responding to the natural world for thousands of years. This has generated an invaluable body of knowledge and a world view that has resulted in human adaptation and resilience through the millennia. Today, Alaska Native people have a huge stake in studies of environmental change at a time when they are disproportionately impacted by transformations to natural systems. Yet, Alaska Natives and Native Americans have the smallest participation rates of all under-represented groups working in the STEM fields. The Sitka Sound Science Center (SSSC) is an emerging research institution in Southeast Alaska that proposes to improve access to, and strengthen the research enterprise by, creating a model for field stations to partner with Tribal organizations. There are more than 650 field stations across the nation that perform an important role as the nexus between community research and education. SSSC has previously obtained NSF funding to work with communities across the region on coproduced projects meant to develop a STEM workforce, train visiting researchers on effective communication with rural and Tribal communities, and address climate change issues that disproportionately impact these diverse Alaskan populations. This project shifts the paradigm of how field stations interact with rural communities and Tribal entities. It will expand upon the earlier work by developing an inclusive research culture meant to maximize recruitment and retention of rural and Alaska Natives in STEM fields, strengthening the organizational capacity of a rural field station, and building stronger partnerships between a field station and rural and Tribal communities. The overarching goal of SSSC’s GRANTED: Connecting Field Stations to Rural and Tribal Communities is to create a model for marine laboratories and field stations around the nation to engage with Tribal and rural communities in the process of co-production of knowledge. This project has a two-pronged approach to bolstering research capacity that results in stronger partnerships between the scientific community and rural and Indigenous people and allows more and diverse access to the research enterprise. First, SSSC will expand and deepen its relationships with Tribal entities to increase engagement between Alaska Natives and the Science Center as a field station to create more co-produced research. Second, it will expand and support research capacity for projects that reflect the needs of rural and Indigenous communities. SSSC will increase its capacity to ensure Tribal interests are met and to fulfill needs that will improve the success of a co-produced research enterprise. The entire project will be evaluated in two parallel pathways. A traditional evaluation from a Western science framework will follow how this program impacts the number of co-produced proposals submitted and funded and the publications arising from this work. A second simultaneous evaluation will be designed by Indigenous participants who will build indices and metrics for evaluating the success of the program from their perspective. This co-production model will emphasize the immense value and necessity of including Indigenous voices and knowledge in environmental change research and adaptation planning. 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.