Rising Voices Panel: Tackling the Climate Crisis with Indigenous and Earth Sciences
April 27, 2023
Dr Cam Brinkworth; Dr DOminique David-Chavez; Dr Melissa Moulton; Dr Diamon Tachera
Hosted by Jim Hurrell and Emily Fischer
Abstract
The Rising Voices Center for Indigenous and Earth Sciences (Rising Voices) facilitates opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous scientific experts and community leaders from around the world to jointly address how extreme weather and climate events are impacting communities and to develop action plans. Rising Voices aspires to advance science through the collaborations of Indigenous and Earth (atmospheric, social, biological, ecological) sciences, along with an intercultural approach to addressing and understanding extreme weather events.Recently, emerging from a decade of Rising Voices activities, Haskell Indian Nations University, a Tribal University in Lawrence, Kansas, was awarded support through the National Science Foundation to form Rising Voices, Changing Coasts (RVCC): The National Indigenous and Earth Sciences Convergence Hub. Funded under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the award is for five years and is the largest research award ever granted by the NSF to a Tribal college or university. The hub is a space for the convergence of disciplines and epistemologies where Indigenous knowledge-holders from diverse coastal regions (Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Louisiana) are working with university-trained social, ecosystem and physical Earth system scientists and students on transformative research to address coastal hazards in the contexts of their communities. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO, is a major partner in the hub, along with numerous other universities and private organizations.