Klamath Basin Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Climate Change Science

The Klamath Basin, stretching between the border of California and Oregon, is home to a vast array of ecological and cultural diversity. The Klamath Basin Tribal Youth Program provides unique educational and outreach opportunities for tribal students of the six federally recognized tribes within the region. One such opportunity is the “Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Climate Change Summer Internship”, in which college-level students from around the basin partake in an intensive 10 week research experience. During the summer months of 2013 and 2014 students were exposed to a variety of resource management challenges and, utilizing an assortment of interdisciplinary techniques, focused on integrating traditional ecological knowledge into climate change research projects. My research focuses on the social and ecological relationships between forestry, fire, and traditional foods. In addition to educating tribal students to be future resource management leaders, the program has precipitated an appreciation of the need to assimilate traditional knowledge and cultural values into climate change mitigation strategies.