Center for Indigenous Research, Science, and Technology (C-FIRST)

The Center About C-FIRST | Contact Us
Our Research FIRST Network | Indigenous Geographies Working Group | CHIRP3 | Hi‘iaka Working Group | WIS2DOM Working Group | Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe / Sacred Red Rock Project
 

The Center for Indigenous Research, Science, and Technology studies the continually unfolding relationship between Indigenous peoples and their environment

 

About the Center

The goal of the Center for Indigenous Research, Science, and Technology is to bridge Indigenous and Western sciences, through appropriate principles, protocols, and practices, in order to better understand the conditions of place-based vulnerability and the best strategies to achieve resilience by facilitating Indigenous-led research initiatives. Our vision is to establish an Indigenous science network that emphasizes research activities that contain integrated theory, practice and dissemination through mentoring and community-based partnerships.

The Center works in collaboration with three international centers including; First Alaskans Institute, Ngā Pae of te Māramatanga – New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence, The Cultural Conservancy, the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, and in partnership with Haskell Indian Nations University (Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center) and KU’s Department of Geography & Atmospheric Science.

Mesingw, the Masked Being

Mesingw, the Masked Being

Mesingw, the Masked Being, is the guardian spirit of the forest and game animals in Lenape tribal tradition.

 

Our Research

Facilitating Indigenous Research, Science, and Technology Network

FIRST represents an interdisciplinary network of Native scholars all working at the intersection of Indigenous and Western scientific traditions to explore how Indigenous communities are utilizing both traditions to meet their research needs. Learn more »

Indigenous Geographies Working Group

The Indigenous Geographies Working Group studies the continually unfolding relationship between Indigenous peoples and their environment through collaborative research efforts exploring topics related to land and resource management, the impacts of global climate change, the political struggles over places and landscapes, and the exercise of self-determination by Indigenous communities. Learn more »

Our Research - continued

Collaboratively Harnessing Indigenous Principles, Protocols, and Practices (CHIRP3)

The goal of the CHIRP3 Project is to develop new guidelines for building collaborations between Native and non-Native researchers working with Native communities. Learn more »

Hi‘iaka Working Group

The Hi‘iaka Working Group is focused on developing new techniques and technologies to represent Indigenous ecological knowledge with the goal of sustaining resilient landscapes. Our philosophical foundation lies in understanding the shift from nature as resources for consumption to nature as familial relations where human responsibility shifts from managing things to nurturing relationships. Learn more »

WIS2DOM Working Group

The WIS2DOM Working Group is focused on bridging the divide between Indigenous and sustainability sciences so that the two paradigms can through dialogue better sustain resilient landscapes. Learn more »

We Are the Wetlands

This project was supported by the Spencer Museum of Art's Integrated Arts Research Initiative through a grant from the Andrew W. Melon Foundation. This series of posters was completed by students in the Environmental Issues of the Wakarusa Wetlands class taught by Professors Jay T. Johnson, Joseph P. Brewer, Cody Marshall and guest instructor Dave Loewenstein. Learn more »

 

Center Director

  • Jay T. Johnson, University of Kansas, Department of Geography & Atmospheric Science

Education Program Specialist

  • Mandy Frank, University of Kansas, Institute for Policy & Social Research

Advisory Board

  • Joe Brewer, University of Kansas, Environmental Studies & Indigenous Studies
  • Dan Hikuroa, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, Auckland University
  • Robin Kimmerer, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
  • Renee Pualani Louis, University of Kansas, Institute for Policy & Social Research
  • Liz Medicine Crow, First Alaskans Institute, Anchorage, AK, USA
  • Melissa Nelson, San Francisco State University & The Cultural Conservancy
  • Mark Palmer, University of Missouri, Department of Geography
 

Parent Organizations

Partner Organizations

Graduate Research Fellows

  • Katrina McClure, PhD candidate
  • Katie Grote, PhD candidate
  • Taylor Hall, MA student
  • Kynser Wahwahsuck, MA student
  • Joseph Zupan, MA student