INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE COUPLED WITH GEOSCIENCE TO EXAMINE INDIGENOUS FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

In an effort to address the need for culturally appropriate geoscience research and education Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is being coupled with Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM), specifically geoscience to highlight issues Native American/Alaska Native (AN/NA) communities are experiencing around food sovereignty due to environmental and climate impacts. This study emphasizes the importance of geoscience in environmental sustainability and monitoring and the interconnectedness of geoscience in food sovereignty. Questions considered weave together geoscience research with sustaining traditional foods by asking 1- how does geoscience research impact Indigenous food sovereignty?), 2- what geoscience research is being done with tribal nations to monitor environmental health and sustainability?, 3- why is geoscience research important for tribal nations? 4- what do you need or want to know about coupling TK with geoscience? 5- why is food sovereignty important?