Led by: Mae Davenport and Shanai Matteson
Our past research with community partners in MSP has privileged those in positions of power, whose knowledge and values have largely been centered on white perspectives and colonial practices. We plan to engage with, listen to, and learn with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities towards acknowledging and addressing systemic racism and legacies of discriminatory practices in urban ecosystem science, policy, and management. Further, we are examining how conducting inclusive research changes how research is done and even the researchers themselves over the long term, to create more equitable long-term urban nature research outcomes.
We acknowledge that the Twin Cities are the traditional, historical, and contemporary lands of the Dakota People. Our project team will be working to build partnerships with the Dakota community and fully explore what our obligations are to them. We are also committed to working with the Ojibwe and broader Indigenous communities who live and work in the Twin Cities. Furthermore, to realize this vision, our project team will be embarking upon a collaborative discussion to more fully express and enact our obligations to Dakota and Indigenous people within our work, our research, and our lives. As these discussions happen and our relationship deepens, we will be updating this website and land acknowledgement.