Indigenous knowledge doesn’t often end up on science fair posters. But for students in one Sitka High School class, traditional ecological knowledge is the center of their work. They recently shared their research in a regional science fair through the American Indian Science and Engineering Society — and two Sitka High teams took home prizes for their projects on yellow cedar trees.
Students in the Sitka High class, which is funded through a grant from Sealaska Heritage Institute, have been researching yellow cedar trees for months. Caitlin Woolsey, who teaches the class, said yellow cedar was a natural choice for research because it’s both culturally and ecologically important to Sitka.
“It’s a really important species to the forest and to our community,” Woolsey said. “It’s got huge cultural significance, and it’s dying off due to climate change, so it’s an opportunity to to learn about our forests, about climate change, and about our community.”
Woolsey’s students recently presented their conclusions to the public in the lobby of the Sitka Performing Arts Center. To kick off their research, students met first with local cultural leaders and looked at the Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s Climate Action Plan to understand community concerns and gaps in the research.
Each team worked with a mentor from the Sitka Sound Science Center, where they learned how to collect data in the field. Mentor Sarah Tobey said part of the goal was to introduce technology and tools for environmental monitoring to students.
“We get to bring that kind of piece into it and support the students and be mentors for the individual projects, which is really fun,” Tobey said. “And I think it’s helpful as they each take on a different question and kind of get to dive deeper into it with one person kind of helping them and guiding them along the way.
For student Sophia Kibby, it was the environment around yellow cedar trees that drew her attention.
“My question that I wanted to research was how do environments differ in understories between the two sites, and how is it affecting yellow cedar trees?” Kibby said.
She compared trees in a high-elevation, exposed area on Sitka’s Harbor Mountain to trees in a shady grove at sea level. She hypothesized that the mountain trees would be less healthy than those at sea level.
“Yellow cedar trees have been dying because the snow has been melting, and it’s not good for the snow to melt during the wintertime,” she said. “Or for the roots, which can’t even be exposed to 20 degrees. It’s not good for it, it’ll die.”
She says she learned a lot through the field work – but it wasn’t all fun.
“I don’t like getting dirty,” she said, laughing. “I was wearing my clothes right here, and I got dirty.”
Kibby took home a prize for her project. Students Lily Mayo and Ben Hedrick took home the first place prize for their project on cedar bark removal, earning them an invitation to the national conference next year.
