Last March, NCCOS joined other NOAA partners in a round table event with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council, sponsored by the NOAA North Atlantic Regional Collaboration Team. The meeting facilitated partnerships and the exchange of ideas between the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and NOAA regarding fisheries, habitat, and water quality.

Historical records show the Algonquian-speaking Wampanoag encountered the English colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17^th century. Since then, the native Wampanoag and European Americans continue to interact and shape each other's cultures. At the round table held in Mashpee, MA, Tribal members spoke of bringing traditional ecological knowledge to NOAA partnerships and participating in the resource management process. NOAA participants shared agency research findings and expressed interest in incorporating more citizen science and traditional tribal knowledge into NOAA research.

Dr. Beth Turner (representing NCCOS and the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program) spoke on ocean acidification. Other speakers included Dr. Jonathan Jon Hare (NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center), Mr. William Mook (Mook Sea Farm), and Dr. Donald Anderson (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), along with other representatives from NOAA and the State of Massachusetts. This was an opportunity for NOAA to understand the tribe's needs and how to best address those needs and expand interactions and collaborations.

Learn more about the meeting here (news link no longer active at NOAA NEFSC).

For more information, contact Elizabeth.Turner@noaa.gov.