The Making of a University Hub for Basic Cultural Anthropological Research Related to Cultural and Biodiversity Conservation

No group is immune to ecological crises but indigenous, rural, and minority communities are often the ones that suffer most. The project addresses inequities during crises in two ways: 1) by focusing on 'other others', particularly on indigenous communities of the higher Himalayas, that are now confronting major environmental problems; and 2) by including undergraduate and graduate students who will conduct research, outreach activities, and workshops. In this sense, the project further develops long-term synergies between communities and international institutions of higher learning, including stakeholders that study cultural anthropological and biodiversity conservation. The research triangulates a variety of scientific fields including the behavioral and social sciences. It studies the Traditional Ecological Knowledge hypothesis (TEK) by focusing on four interconnected yet separate objectives to determine (1) whether some forms of market incorporation could develop without eroding local ecological knowledge; (2) whether religious beliefs are associated with the conservation of the physical environment; (3) the extent to which individual socio-cultural and demographic traits affect TEK; and finally (4) whether the selection of knowledge sharing is based on social cues. The study involves several highly innovative elements, such as being one of the first in-depth examinations of cultural norms, cosmology, and beliefs to integrate cutting-edge statistical modeling and social network studies with more qualitative, traditional cultural approaches to explore how the learning process change over time. The project is funded with co-funding support from the HBCU-Excellence in Research Program. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.