Talk on Traditional Ecological Knowledge

native_american_fishing_uwash.jpg

The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology is offering a free, online talk about “Traditional Ecological Knowledge” as it applies to our area’s ecosystems and landscapes. It takes place on Thursday, Dec. 12, 4 p.m. Registration is required—go here to register.

The speaker is Cristina Eisenberg, the Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence and Director of Tribal Initiatives at Oregon State University in the College of Forestry, and Professor of Practice.

Climate change, land use shifts related to Euro-American settlement, and the related elimination of Indigenous cultural stewardship practices are increasing the size and severity of wildfires throughout North America. Dr. Eisenberg will discuss how returning Indigenous stewardship to Pacific Northwest forests, including cultural burning, can increase these forests’ climate resiliency.

She directs the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Lab and the Indigenous Natural Resource Office at OSU. As a Native American and Latinx ecologist, she leads several long-term ecological restoration projects, including the BLM /OSU/Fort Belknap Grassland Restoration Project in Montana and the Pacific Northwest Tribal Conservation Corps Pilot Project for Seeds of Success, which involves working with five of the Tribal Nations in Oregon.