IDAHO: EPSCoR faculty member receives ~$400K ecological restoration grant
New Idaho EPSCoR faculty member, Dr. Matt Williamson, received a $399,820 NSF grant focusing on ecological restoration. Williamson, new GEM3 hire at Boise State, is part of a team that will examine Indigenous-Led Ecological Restoration in partnership with Tribes of the Blackfoot Confederacy. This research examines how Indigenous groups navigate institutional and environmental legacies to restore ecologically and culturally significant species. The project investigates the complex relationship between biological conservation and Indigenous Peoples that can lead to innovative conservation efforts that support Indigenous ecological and cultural goals.
This project will identify obstacles that face Indigenous-led, ecological restoration. This project develops a generalizable mixed methods framework that combines interviews, Elder circles, transect walks, and participatory GIS with novel spatial analyses of jurisdictional fragmentation. Project findings will inform researchers about the ongoing role of institutional legacies in shaping conservation efforts, how Indigenous actors work through and alter these structures, and the socio-ecological complexity of reintroducing keystone species.