Coffee Hour with Crystal Ng

Enjoy a free catered lunch, a presentation by Crystal Ng with the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and conversation with students, staff, and faculty from the GES Department. Lunch will be available starting at 12:30 p.m. and Dr. Ng will present from 1-2 p.m. Those joining us for lunch are encouraged to pre-register. Please RSVP using the event registration link above by the end of the day on Monday, September 16th. 

“First We Must Consider Manoomin”: Tribal-University Collaborative Research Around Manoomin / Psiη (Wild Rice)
In this talk, Ng explains that Manoomin (in Ojibwe) / Psiη (in Dakota), or Wild Rice, is central to the culture and diet of many Indigenous peoples throughout the Upper Great Lakes region. Tribes also hold generations of understanding about the natural and human factors that influence its well-being. However, tribal views and treaty rights have not been adequately respected, and Manoomin/Psiη stands have been declining in lakes and streams due to various environmental stressors since Euro-American settlement. Our project adopts a collaborative approach that prioritizes tribal values and knowledge and supports Tribes in their conservation and restoration of Manoomin/Psiη. This presentation will provide background on how university and tribal partners learned to work respectfully together, and some of the new insights we’ve been able to gain together–including new understandings generated through a combination of Indigenous knowledge, tribal and non-tribal datasets, statistical modeling, and physically based modeling
about climate change impacts on Manoomin/Psiη.

Crystal Ng is an associate professor in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She completed her bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics at Harvard University and her PhD degree in Environmental Engineering at MIT. Her research focuses on integrated hydrological modeling to understand how shallow groundwater systems respond to climate change, land-use/cover change, and contamination. Recently she has also been conducting community-engaged research, through which she strives to demonstrate the need for collaboration with Indigenous communities, inclusion of other knowledge systems, and work towards environmental justice.