NNA Track 1: Collaborative Research: A Purpose-Driven Merger of Western Science and Indigenous Knowledge of Water Quality in Alaskan Communities

NNA 轨道 1：合作研究：西方科学与阿拉斯加社区水质知识的有目的的融合

• 批准号: 2022670
• 负责人: Navid Saleh
• 金额: $ 208.43万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2022670&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NNA; Track; Collaborative; Research; Purpose

Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) is one of NSF's 10 Big Ideas. NNA projects address convergence scientific challenges in the rapidly changing Arctic. The Arctic research is needed to inform the economy, security and resilience of the Nation, the larger region and the globe. NNA empowers new research partnerships from local to international scales, diversifies the next generation of Arctic researchers, enhances efforts in formal and informal education, and integrates the co-production of knowledge where appropriate. This award fulfills part of that aim by addressing interactions among social systems, natural environment, and built environment in the following NNA focus areas: Arctic Residents, Forecasting, and Resilient Infrastructure.The well-being of Alaskan Indigenous communities depends on access to safe drinking water. However, water pollution has remained a reality for many of these communities due to naturally occurring and anthropogenic pollutants. As the climate warms, environmental changes will likely exacerbate water contamination problems by releasing entombed microorganisms, ancient organic carbon, nutrients, and metals through thawing of permafrost and melting of glaciers. While Alaskan communities are highly vulnerable to such changes, they also hold valuable Indigenous Knowledge about their water resources. This project aims to merge Western scientific knowledge with Indigenous Knowledge of water to better understand these changes in water quality over time. Additionally, this project will lead to the development of a framework for true convergence of Indigenous Knowledge and Western science that can be applied to similar environmental and cultural changes ongoing in other communities. The project will collect and aggregate Western scientific data and Indigenous Knowledge of water quality in three environmental systems that are unique to the Arctic (glaciers, permafrost, and a glacier-impacted river system). Specific project objectives are to (i) assess the physical, chemical, and microbial quality of water stored frozen in glaciers and permafrost, (ii) analyze the interaction between background water chemistry (e.g., dissolved organic carbon, metals, nutrients) and microbial ecology at the present time, (iii) delineate Indigenous water quality knowledge using ethnographic approaches, including photo-voice and semi-structured interviews, and (iv) communicate with Alaskan community members through advisory boards and open community meetings at Selawik and Anchorage. A true convergence between Western scientific data and Indigenous Knowledge will be forged by a purpose-driven approach (i.e., community well-being) to shared learning. The broader impacts of this project include (i) engagement with underrepresented communities in STEM, (ii) inclusion and training of a diverse pool of students in project goals, and (iii) the novel “celebration of water” event in which photo-voice activities and stories told by Alaskan community members will broadly disseminate project knowledge.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.

导航新北极 (NNA) 是 NSF 的 10 大创意项目之一，旨在解决快速变化的北极地区的融合科学挑战，为国家、更大地区和全球的经济、安全和复原力提供信息。 NNA 授权从地方到国际范围内的新研究伙伴关系，使下一代北极研究人员多样化，加强正规和非正规教育方面的努力，并在适当的情况下整合知识的共同生产。该奖项通过以下方式实现了部分目标。解决以下 NNA 重点领域中社会系统、自然环境和建筑环境之间的相互作用：北极居民、预报和弹性基础设施。阿拉斯加土著社区的福祉取决于能否获得安全饮用水。然而，水污染仍然存在。由于自然发生和人为污染物，这对许多社区来说是一个现实。随着气候变暖，环境变化可能会通过解冻释放埋藏的微生物、古老的有机碳、营养物和金属，从而加剧水污染问题。虽然阿拉斯加社区极易受到此类变化的影响，但他们也拥有宝贵的土著知识，该项目旨在将西方科学知识与土著知识相结合，以更好地了解水质随时间的变化。此外，该项目将导致开发一个真正融合本土知识和西方科学的框架，该框架可应用于其他社区正在进行的类似环境和文化变化。该项目将收集和汇总西方科学数据和本土水知识。三个环境系统的质量是北极独有的（冰川、永久冻土和受冰川影响的河流系统），具体项目目标是（i）评估冰川和永久冻土中储存的冷冻水的物理、化学和微生物质量，（ii）分析当前背景水化学（例如溶解的有机碳、金属、营养物）与微生物生态学之间的相互作用，(iii) 使用人种学方法（包括照片语音）描绘土著水质知识和半结构化访谈，以及（iv）通过顾问委员会和在塞拉维克和安克雷奇举行的公开社区会议与阿拉斯加社区成员进行沟通。西方科学数据和土著知识之间的真正融合将通过目的驱动的方法（即社区）来实现。该项目的更广泛影响包括 (i) 参与 STEM 中代表性不足的社区，(ii) 在项目目标中包容和培训多元化的学生，以及 (iii) 新颖的“庆祝活动”。水”活动中，阿拉斯加社区成员讲述的照片声音活动和故事将广泛传播项目知识。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。