288 Indigenous Teaching and Research in the Geosciences: Approaches to Indigenizing Geoscience Across Multiple Contexts

We will discuss the outcomes and evidence of successful approaches to Indigenous community-driven science. We invite abstracts on convergence research relating to water use, energy/mineral needs, climate change, STEM curricula, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge as they pertain to Native communities.

Wednesday, 22 October 2025
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
HBGCC, 302A

Advancing Indigenous research and education partnerships to address environmental injustices on Acjachemen and Gabrieleño/Kizh/Tongva Homelands

Paper number: 288-4
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 2:20 PM – 2:35 PM

Authors

Abstract

The University of California Irvine’s CLIMATE Justice Initiative (CJI) and Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples (SPI), a California Indigenous-led organization, are partnering to center Indigenous knowledge and leadership in efforts to transform academic approaches to geoscience research and education. CJI activities center on training diverse cohorts of postbaccalaureate and PhD student fellows in climate science, community-engaged research, and environmental justice, with fellows conducting team-based research projects with one of three community-based organization (CbO) partners. As the only Indigenous-led CbO partner of CJI, SPI has collaborated with six CJI fellows on co-designed research projects over the past 2 years, which are aimed at identifying and addressing environmental justice concerns of Acjachemen and Gabrieleño/Kizh/Tongva Peoples on whose homelands UCI is located. One project, Indigenous Mapping in Orange County, used listening sessions to develop priorities for future geospatial analysis and GIS mapping to visualize the impacts that climate change has on Indigenous peoples and their ability to partake in cultural practices involving the ocean and native plants. Another collaborative project, Indigenous Storytelling at the San Joaquin Marsh: A Photovoice Project, documents the relationships Acjachemen and Gabrieleño/Kizh/Tongva tribal members have with the marsh managed by UCI under the UC Natural Reserve System via on-site semi-structured interviews. Importantly, results from these projects are communicated back to Tribal members, used to identify future research priorities, and facilitate increased access to culturally significant spaces. In addition to research, SPI has also developed and led a series of panels and workshops for the CJI curriculum around Indigenous Sovereignty and communications during the academic year.  Coupled with the cross-disciplinary CJI curriculum, which places significant emphasis on equitable research collaborations (Harris et al.,2021)  and relational science (David-Chavez et al., 2024), we aim to equip the next-generation of geoscientists to pursue meaningful and ethical collaborations with Indigenous communities who are situated at the frontlines of global change.

 

References:

 

 

David-Chavez, D., Gavin, M., Ortiz, N., Valdez, S., & Carroll, S. (2024). A values-centered relational science model: supporting Indigenous rights and reconciliation in research. Ecology and Society, 29(2).

 

Harris, L. A., Garza, C., Hatch, M., Parrish, J., Posselt, J., Alvarez Rosario, J. P., ... & Reyes, K. (2021). Equitable exchange: A framework for diversity and inclusion in the geosciences. AGU Advances, 2(2), e2020AV000359.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-414455

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