QRC members lead and participate in a wide range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research projects from the study of past earth climates and glaciations to shifts in the geographic distributions and evolution of vegetation and faunal communities, to the evolution and dispersals of the genus Homo and the increasing scales of human modification of earth environments through the Holocene. QRC provides a venue for meeting and collaborating with scholars across Quaternary disciplines. We are also fortunate to be able to provide seed funding and small grants for member research projects. We are especially happy to support grad student and junior scholar research activities, much of which leads to larger, external funding from agencies like the National Science Foundation.
Centering Karuk knowledge in floodplain restoration
Abstract: The Karuk Tribe has managed the Mid-Klamath River watershed for time immemorial and continues to do so today (Diver et al. 2010; Whistler 1979). Karuk management techniques, including the use of cultural fire, have been integral to the evolution of plant communities in the region (Anderson 2013; Crawford et al. 2015), which are some of the most diverse plant communities in the world (Dellasala et al. 1999). Over the last two hundred years, mining, fire suppression, and dams have severely degraded the Klamath watershed’s ecological integrity (Oliver et al. 2014; Reilly et al. 2020) and disrupted Karuk traditional lifeways (Norgaard 2014a; Norgaard 2014b; Norgaard 2019). Beginning in 2022 the largest dam removal project in US history will begin on the Mid-Klamath, offering unprecedented opportunities to pursue large-scale riparian restoration and to develop sustainable management practice in the context of anticipated climate change. Given the reciprocal nature of Klamath River ecological processes and Karuk lifeways, incorporating cultural practice into restoration research in the mid- Klamath Basin will improve ecological outcomes (Stevens 2020; Reyes-García et al. 2019), support eco-cultural revitalization and living Karuk traditions (Long & Lake 2018; Marks-Block et al. 2019; Sowerwine et al. 2019), and advance Karuk efforts to decolonialize watershed governance (Diver 2016; Sarna-Wojcicki et al. 2019). This larger Karuk-led project foregrounds environmental justice and cogeneration in the eco-cultural revitalization of Tishánik, a Karuk cultural center on the Klamath River floodplain, and the site of Pikyávish, the annual World- Renewal Ceremony. The project is co-led by educator and basket weaver Lisa Morehead-Hillman (Karuk), cultural practitioner and leader Leaf Hillman (Karuk), and aquatic ecologist and geographer Dr. Cleo Woelfle-Erskine (UW). The goals of the larger project are to (1) Map topography, landscape processes (fire, flood), and vegetation, and model effects of alternative floodplain restoration strategies on priority cultural species; and (2) Co-produce Karuk knowledge-centered restoration interventions through iterative participatory mapping and design processes. This grant will fund student participation in a workshop in which Karuk community members and cultural practitioners will evaluate their restoration designs and preliminary vegetation mapping work.
Abstract: The Karuk Tribe has managed the Mid-Klamath River watershed for time immemorial and continues to do so today (Diver et al. 2010; Whistler 1979). Karuk management techniques, including the use of cultural fire, have been integral to the evolution of plant communities in the region (Anderson 2013; Crawford et al. 2015), which are some of the most diverse plant communities in the world (Dellasala et al. 1999). Over the last two hundred years, mining, fire suppression, and dams have severely degraded the Klamath watershed’s ecological integrity (Oliver et al. 2014; Reilly et al. 2020) and disrupted Karuk traditional lifeways (Norgaard 2014a; Norgaard 2014b; Norgaard 2019). Beginning in 2022 the largest dam removal project in US history will begin on the Mid-Klamath, offering unprecedented opportunities to pursue large-scale riparian restoration and to develop sustainable management practice in the context of anticipated climate change. Given the reciprocal nature of Klamath River ecological processes and Karuk lifeways, incorporating cultural practice into restoration research in the mid- Klamath Basin will improve ecological outcomes (Stevens 2020; Reyes-García et al. 2019), support eco-cultural revitalization and living Karuk traditions (Long & Lake 2018; Marks-Block et al. 2019; Sowerwine et al. 2019), and advance Karuk efforts to decolonialize watershed governance (Diver 2016; Sarna-Wojcicki et al. 2019). This larger Karuk-led project foregrounds environmental justice and cogeneration in the eco-cultural revitalization of Tishánik, a Karuk cultural center on the Klamath River floodplain, and the site of Pikyávish, the annual World- Renewal Ceremony. The project is co-led by educator and basket weaver Lisa Morehead-Hillman (Karuk), cultural practitioner and leader Leaf Hillman (Karuk), and aquatic ecologist and geographer Dr. Cleo Woelfle-Erskine (UW). The goals of the larger project are to (1) Map topography, landscape processes (fire, flood), and vegetation, and model effects of alternative floodplain restoration strategies on priority cultural species; and (2) Co-produce Karuk knowledge-centered restoration interventions through iterative participatory mapping and design processes. This grant will fund student participation in a workshop in which Karuk community members and cultural practitioners will evaluate their restoration designs and preliminary vegetation mapping work.