Over the past couple of years, Karuk Dept. of Natural Resources (KDNR) GIS specialists Christopher Weinstein and Sylvia Van Royen, along with UC Agriculture & Natural Resources GIS specialist Andy Lyons, developed the “Karuk Tribal Citizen Science Tool.” This idea came from a Karuk Cultural Practitioner during a Cultural Practitioner meeting hosted by the team of the Karuk Agroecosystem Resilience Initiative: xúus nu’éethti. The goal of this user-friendly mobile app is to enable KDNR staff, Karuk Tribal community members, other regional Indigenous cultural practitioners, and local community/citizen scientists like you to make and record unusual and significant observations on your surroundings. You could be one of the region’s cultural practitioners, basket weavers, gatherers, hunters, fishers, professional staff, or any other invested and interested community member. These notes and observations can be about culturally significant plants, animals, fish, hydrology, climate/weather and cultural resources you encounter in the region.

Ready to observe?? Get out your smartphone and…

This data collected by you and others will continually build a community-sourced dataset for KDNR on cultural resources and patterns in observed phenomenon related to climate change and contribute actionable information to KDNR managers. Additionally, the learnings from this data will support educational resources for teachers and cultural practitioners to explore spatial and temporal patterns in cultural species phenology and use. The app and submitted data will be maintained by KDRN using ArcGIS Enterprise, and only KDNR administrators will have access to the full dataset to ensure proper use and maintain individual privacy and Tribal sovereignty.

Have you met Colleen Rossier, the new KDNR Píkyav Field Institute* Program Manager, yet? 

She started in her new position this spring, working with Heather Rickard, Shawn Bourque, Frankie Tripp, and Bari Talley to manage the intergenerational learning as well as food sovereignty/security aspects of KDNR. The intergenerational learning aspects of the Pikyav Field Institute include research/higher education coordination, Indigenous/Western science collaboration, K-12 environmental education, the Sipnuuk digital library, youth internships, and workforce development. This program manager position was formerly held by Lisa Hillman, who left incredibly (and impossibly) big shoes to fill, and is sorely missed!

While she originally hails from the other side of the continent (Virginia, just outside DC), Colleen comes ready and excited for this position. After all, she completed her PhD from UC Davis in 2019 as a member of the Karuk-Berkeley Collaborative! Her dissertation research examined how integrating Indigenous and Western sciences enhances socio-ecological resilience. To do so, she collaborated with Karuk and Yurok Tribes and Karuk, Yurok, and Hupa people to formulate a case study on the habitat needs and Indigenous stewardship, management, and use of evergreen huckleberry (púrith, cheeegery, chwilch, Vaccinium ovatum), a cultural and socio-ecological indicator species. This research produced management recommendations for evergreen huckleberry as well as policy recommendations encouraging Indigenous-led and Indigenous-directed research and management. Prior to her graduate studies, Colleen worked at the USDA on agroforestry, organic agriculture, and local/regional food systems. As if that isn’t enough, she also recently completed a Master’s of Science in acupuncture and traditional Chinese/Korean medicine. Welcome Colleen!