In the late 1990s, I developed the idea to have an Invited Feature for Ecological Applications on traditional knowledge, ecosystem science, and environmental management, as non-arctic ecologists seem largely unaware of this relevant area. I invited Dennis Martinez (O'odham/Chicano) to be my co-editor. The resulting 92-page feature appeared in 2000, and included 10 papers in addition to our overview (Ford, J. and D. Martinez. 2000. Ecol. Appl. 10:1249-1250).

This project helped create the momentum to establish the Traditional Ecological Knowledge section within the Ecological Society of America.

Ecologists ask whether traditional knowledge has relevance in today's rapidly changing environments. I addressed this question briefly in a subsequent paper (Ford, J. 2001 The relevance of indigenous knowledge for contemporary sustainability. J. Northwest Sci. 75(2):183-188).

Current activities focus on understanding how TEK and SEK can complement each other to the mutual benefit of practitioners of both ways of knowing. Current interests involve working with Iņupiat elders and community members in both Arctic and Northwestern Alaska, loosely centered around (1) the role of whitefish in contaminant movement, 2) ecology and population dynamics of Pacific walrus, (3) how environments of King Island, Alaska are understood, and whether and how they have changed over time, and (4) names, uses, and preparation of plants traditionally used by the King Island Native Community.

Additional activities in Oregon are under development. A key element of collaborations is to identify overlapping interests and be willing involve identifying overlapping interests, and a willingness to work within in a system that contains different and sometimes conflicting values.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This material is based in part on work supported by (1) the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs under Grant No. 9979695 to Oregon State University & (2) the Pacific Walrus Conservation Fund Project 1997-0292-005 to Oregon State University