Empowering the Pursuit
of a Higher Degree.
“I am Alaska Native Iñupiaq, a master’s student at ESF in conservation biology, and a Sloan Indigenous fellow at the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment (CNPE). My name is Erica Wood.”
Erica Wood is earning her degree at ESF because she’s passionate about plants—the biological mechanisms governing what they do, the ecology of how they fit into larger systems, and their response to a warming environment. She’s also at ESF because it offers her the opportunity to bridge traditional and scientific knowledge.
Wood’s focus is Arctic plant ecology in the Alaskan tundra, specifically the salmonberry plant (Rubus chamaemorus). She’s partnering with the Native Village of Igiugig in southwestern Alaska as salmonberries are a crucial part of their subsistence diet. She first met community members while working on a short film for the Village documenting their sovereignty and stewardship of their traditional lands. The Village maintains a greenhouse to support food sovereignty. Researching how a changing climate affects salmonberry abundance on the tundra links these food sovereignty and stewardship efforts.
Their work resonates with the research Wood is conducting at ESF. “Seventeen hundred billion metric tons of carbon are stored in the tundra, and that could be released as the climate warms,” she says. “Applying community members’ vast knowledge about the changing tundra, we work in close partnership to design a research methodology that will help inform future management practices in the face of climate change.” Upcoming research includes a shrub effect study this summer (field based) and a seed germination study at the ESF greenhouse.
Before pursuing a degree in science, Wood worked in environmental advocacy. She envied the work of her scientist colleagues, so she sought a graduate program that would allow her to combine community engagement with ecological science. Attracted by the caliber of thought leaders and faculty at ESF, Wood contacted Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, founding director of CNPE, after reading Kimmerer’s bestselling book Braiding Sweetgrass. Kimmerer recommended the center; financial support from ESF, CNPE, and the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Program sealed the deal.
At CNPE, students can tailor their master’s research around their interests — or interests of their home communities. We’re celebrated for bringing our whole selves and our culture and experiences to our research.”
Says Wood, “At CNPE, students can tailor their master’s research around their interests – or interests of their home communities. We’re celebrated for bringing our whole selves and our culture and experiences to our research. Oftentimes in academia, you’re supposed to separate your personal experience from your research for it to be unbiased. There are certainly situations where that is necessary and important for your work, but the center facilitates an exchange where knowledge from our elders can help inform research questions we identify together. This contributes to our own research while also enabling us to give back to the community.”
Much of the work at CNPE is funded by donations and grants—especially important for Indigenous students, who often face many hurdles to pursuing a graduate education. “Your donation does not go unnoticed,” says Wood. “Students at CNPE are grateful for the opportunity to be here. Donations to the center directly supports students and individual capacity building while enhancing our ability to give back to communities and to the environment. This has been one of the best parts of this experience for me.”
