Palauan Youth Reclaiming Environmental Knowledge Through Indigenous Research

By Caroline Ferguson Irlanda and Ann Singeo

On the island of Palau, a quiet revolution is taking place. High school students armed with notebooks and recording devices are sitting with elders, documenting centuries-old fishing practices and agricultural techniques that sustained their ancestors. What makes this remarkable isn’t just the knowledge being preserved—it’s how it’s happening.

When Research Becomes Cultural Reclamation

“The research class has instilled in me a profound love for my culture, my environment, my island, and most importantly, my identity as a Belauan,” shares Ebiklou, a student in the Decolonizing Environmental Social Science Research course. “We went to the mesei (taro patch) today, and I completely forgot how it used to feel. Going back felt like I was reconnecting with my roots and it brought me so much peace by just being there.”

This isn’t your typical school project. It’s part of an innovative year-long course co-taught by Ann Singeo, a Palauan cultural knowledge holder, and Dr. Caroline Ferguson Irlanda, an American environmental social scientist. Together, we are training Palauan youth ages 15-18 to document traditional ecological knowledge using both Indigenous protocols and academic research methods.

Breaking the “Parachute Science” Pattern

For decades, Western researchers have practiced “parachute science”—dropping into Pacific communities, extracting knowledge, and departing with little benefit to locals. This course flips that model entirely.

“Our students aren’t just learning research skills—they’re reclaiming ownership of how environmental knowledge about Palau is borrowed and shared,” explains Singeo, Executive Director of Ebiil Society, the local nonprofit hosting the program.

The approach combines rigorous qualitative methods—interviews, participant observation, focus groups—with traditional Palauan protocols. For example, students learn to offer humble gifts before requesting to borrow knowledge and to recognize important meaning that is communicated between-the-lines.

Knowledge at Risk

This work comes at a crucial time. Like many Indigenous communities worldwide, Palau faces rapid cultural change. Western-style education systems, outmigration, and lifestyles structured around a capitalist political economy mean traditional knowledge isn’t being passed down as it once was.

“When an elder passes away without having shared their knowledge, we lose centuries of environmental observation and sustainable practices,” notes Dr. Ferguson Irlanda. “This isn’t just about cultural preservation—it’s about maintaining practical knowledge that can help address contemporary environmental challenges.”

Youth as Knowledge Bridges

What makes this program particularly powerful is how it positions young people not as passive recipients of knowledge, but as active bridges between generations and knowledge systems.

Since the program began, about 23 students have collected over 90 interviews across Palau, including remote outer islands. They’ve documented practices ranging from sustainable reef gleaning techniques to agroforestry systems, and the traditional ways of managing and sharing food to maintain ecosystem and community health.

“As a young Palauan researcher, I have been given the responsibility to investigate and shed some light on topics and concepts integral to the preservation and growth of Palauan culture, traditions, heritage, and physical environment,” shares Ponzy, another student in the course. “With this opportunity, I have been gifted a stronger sense of patriotism towards my home country and an undying love for my culture.”

Transformative Learning in Action

The program is now studying how this experience transforms the youth participants themselves, developing an Indigenous evaluation framework with Palauan PhD student Elei Titiml. Among other outcomes, the team will investigate how the course shapes:

• Connections to Palauan cultural identity
• Confidence navigating both traditional and academic knowledge systems
• Research skills applicable to higher education
• Commitment to environmental stewardship

“When young people realize the sophistication of their ancestors’ knowledge systems, it fundamentally shifts how they see themselves and their culture,” explains Singeo.

A Model for Conservation Education

This approach offers important lessons for conservation education globally:

1. Center Indigenous leadership in program design and implementation
2. Use participatory methods that empower communities to document their own knowledge
3. Bridge knowledge systems rather than privileging Western science over Indigenous ways of knowing
4. Create intergenerational connections that facilitate knowledge sharing
5. Give youth the power to determine research directions and applications
6. Document with purpose, ensuring that knowledge collection benefits the community first

This course is only possible because Ebiil Society, a Palauan-led organization, has been building relationships with knowledge holders for decades. We have found that these elders are far more interested in sharing their knowledge with Palauan youth than they are with visiting researchers. Interviews are chiefly a way of building klauchad (~relations), and reciprocity is expected over the long-term. For anyone inspired to develop similar programs, the lesson  is clear: start with relationships, not research. Decolonizing research requires a fundamental shift in approach—not just adding cultural content or including local voices within existing structures. As the youth researchers wrote in their book Belau Agroforestry and Food Systems, “We all as individuals gained new relationships and lessons to take home with us, and relationships that we each will recognize and take as part of our new growth. Ones that we will nurture forever.”For more information, visit www.ebiilsociety.org

More about the authors:

Caroline Ferguson Irlanda and Ann Singeo have collaborated for seven years on community-engaged research and education in Palau. Ann is a founding member and Executive Director of Ebiil Society, a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental education and conservation in Palau. Caroline is a Research Associate in the Social Ecology Lab at Stanford University; she earned her PhD in 2021 in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources. Their interdisciplinary work together has examined how commodification has impacted social inequities, environmental degradation, food sovereignty, and cultural heritage in Palau. They honor the knowledge of fishermen, gleaners, hunters, medicine gatherers, and farmers by connecting these knowledge holders with Palauan youth to sustain reciprocal relations with nature across generations. Together, they created and co-teach Decolonizing Environmental Social Science Research.

Reference:

Singeo, A. and Ferguson, C.E., 2023. Lessons from Palau to end parachute science in international conservation research. Conservation Biology, 37(1).