SYMP 6-4 - Assessing islander students' understanding of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and plant-animal interactions through locally relevant classroom modules.

Island studies are vital contributing factors to our understanding of natural history as many foundational theories arose from observations on islands. Oceanic islands are becoming increasingly important as testing grounds for the impacts of extinction and invasion. As a result of the ecological importance of island ecosystems and the need to ensure their conservation, sustainable management through holistic use of sources, including traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), is paramount. TEK is typically based on many centuries of lived experience. However, such knowledge is regarded as informal and diffuse, and also ignored as ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘backward’ being that it is increasingly marginalized and disappearing. As a first step in safeguarding the continued existence of such knowledge, it is therefore important to assess the state of TEK especially in the young generation.
The invasion of Boiga irregularis that wiped out over 80% of Guam’s avifauna is a textbook example of invasion biology taught in schools across the U.S. Understandably, we expect students from Guam and the rest of the Mariana islands to be knowledgeable of their island’s ecology, particularly, invasion biology because of the B.irregularis invasion and the TEK rooted in Chamorro culture (native people of Marianas). However, in a world dominated by western influence, where traditional knowledge has been replaced by western lifestyles and schools teach about mainland concepts like four seasons, it is also possible that students will know little of their islands’ ecology.
To investigate students’ knowledge on TEK and plant-animal interactions, we collaborated with three high schools on Guam, Rota, and Saipan in the Mariana Islands. To assess students’ TEK, we will score students’ ability to identify and report culturally important species and their significance. We expect students on all islands to have more knowledge of invasion biology, but little knowledge on traditionally important species and species interaction. Additionally, we expect a negative correlation between TEK and western culture influence, where students on Guam, the most westernized island in the Marianas will have least TEK, while students on Rota, least westernized island will have more TEK. Although there is a growing concern for the loss of TEK, there has also been an increasing effort to implement TEK in scientific research, evident by chapters and institutions across the world, including ESA. It is, therefore, important to ensure that TEK is handed down to the younger generation, by teaching TEK as a critical part of holistic island ecology management solutions.