CREST Receives a Grant funded by the NSF University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

CREST Researchers received a grant by the National Science Foundation University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (NSF UCAR) titled Enhancing Water Ecosystem Resilience Through Revitalizing Local Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). CUNY CREST HIRES Director and Deputy Director of the CUNY CREST Institute, Dr. Shakila Merchant will lead this project along with Co-PIs Dr. Smita Ekka Dewan, CREST affiliate Faculty at NY City College of Technology, CUNY CREST Research Scientist Dr. Vartika Chandra Saman and CREST Affiliate Faculty Dr. Naresh Devineni in partnership with UCAR scientist Dr. Curtis Walker, and Tribal Members of Mikmaq Nation, Presque Isle, ME and Urban Indigenous Collective (UIC), New York. 

The grant aims to empower youth and community members through workshops and seminars by engaging youth and community members in exploring TEK and water ecosystem sustainability; facilitating intergenerational knowledge exchange; and providing mentorship and internship opportunities for students and community members to participate in research and training. The project will primarily focus on participatory action research involving youth and elders in intergenerational dialogues and activities to document water ecosystems and TEK. First of its kind in the NE region, Dr. Merchant says, “the project will create an opportunity for youth and communities to share, learn, understand and engage in TEK practices that may have influenced the Aroostook River and Hudson River Regions of  NE region within the context of water as a vital natural  resource of these ecosystems.