Posts in: Bridging Communities

Ethical Space is a powerful framework for transforming relationships between Indigenous peoples and western science, but ultimately, creating Ethical Space depends on the individuals’ willingness to open their minds and invite others into the process. In this episode, Dr. Leigh Welling, Park Superintendent of Wind Cave National Park, joins Sarah Sunu, Gwen Bridge...

In this conversation, our Associate Director of Trainings, Sarah Sunu talks to our partners, Gwen Bridge and James Rattling Leaf, about the practice of Ethical Space, a powerful conceptual framework designed to support the reconciliation of Indigenous and western world views. They share how our partnership came to be, why this work matters, and how you can incorpor...

One of the most challenging (and exciting!) aspects of communication is that our audience is never a blank canvas. Rather, getting to know them is more like trying to interpret a Jackson Pollock painting¹. Before we’ve even shared a single word, the person we’re looking to connect with already has a set of existing, entwined beliefs about the world, themselves...

Karen Nickel and Dawn Chapman met at an air-sampling event created in response to alarming odors in their neighborhood. “The odors were unlike anything we'd ever experienced,” Dawn explained. “They were causing our eyes to swell and burn and our noses to bleed.”  Just a week prior, in the middle of planning her daughter’s fifth birthday party, Dawn le...

Excerpt from Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science by Jessica Hernandez published by North Atlantic Books, copyright © 2022 by Jessica Hernandez. Reprinted by permission of North Atlantic Books. The bottom-up approach allows conservation initiatives and projects to come from within the community. Contrary to the top-down ...

Science can have the greatest impact in the world when scientists work in partnership with community leaders and policymakers - and those partnerships require effective, inclusive science communication. But what characterizes inclusive science communication, and who is practicing it?  Hosted by the University of Rhode Island’s Metcalf Institute and organized ...