McNair Scholar 2022 Sofia Ledeneva
Sofia Ledeneva is a Senior at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, majoring in forest and natural resources management. Her research interests are in the human dimensions of natural resource management. After her bachelor’s degree is complete, she is planning on continuing on to a Ph.D. program.
My dream is to add to the body of knowledge on how different people relate to nature through a cultural lens. I hope to help break the narrative that nature is separate from us and exists for our consumption.
Research project
Native Youth Wellbeing and the Wild Rice Harvest
Abstract: Wild rice, which is known to the Anishinaabe people as manoomin, is a staple part of Anishinaabe culture. Changing climate and land uses are threatening manoomin. The disappearance of manoomin would also directly cause loss of cultural and spiritual practices which are essential to the Anishinaabe way of life. The amount of youth participating in harvesting has been decreasing. The purpose of this study is to explore what the loss of Manoomin would mean for the holistic wellbeing of Anishinaabe youth. I used a literature review and participant observation of the Tribal Adaptation Workshop to inform this project. I looked at four sectors of wellbeing: Family, Community, Spiritual, and Mental Health– Education– Physical Health– and Financial Health. Each sector is uniquely connected to both the well-being of Anishinaabe youth and manoomin harvest. The disappearance of manoomin and harvesting tradition would be a loss in every sector of well-being.
Faculty mentor
Mae Davenport is currently a professor in the Department of Forestry in the College of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources at the University of Minnesota. She is also the Director for the Center of Changing Landscapes and received her Ph.D. in 2003 at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests are focused on the human dimensions of natural resource management, specifically sustainable land use planning; community-based ecosystem management; recreation planning; and human beliefs, attitudes and behaviors associated with landscape change. Dr. Davenport has her work published in multiple journals and has presented at conferences internationally.