Bridging Science, Indigenous Knowledge and Faith: New Pathways for Environmental Justice and Climate Action

The communities most affected by environmental injustices have long recognized what academic institutions are only now beginning to acknowledge: the most pressing ecological challenges cannot be solved solely through the sciences. Addressing these challenges requires relying on multiple ways of knowing, drawing on a convergence of knowledge systems that honors both empirical data and the lived experiences of those most affected by environmental degradation.

A significant challenge in exploring different “ways of knowing” is defining terms such as science, Indigenous knowledge, and other approaches that explain how people, cultures or societies access knowledge about the natural world. For our purposes in this writing, when we use the term “science,” we are referring primarily to Western science and its methods, systems and tools for acquiring, protecting and disseminating knowledge about the natural world.

Indigenous cultures worldwide understand the natural world with equal rigor, employing different approaches to observe, report and share information about natural phenomena—information that can span generations. Indigenous educator and author Gregory Cajete describes Indigenous ways of knowing as rooting “the entire tree of knowledge in the soil of direct physical and perceptual experience of the Earth. In other words, to know yourself you must first know the Earth.” In our current global ecological crisis it is increasingly recognized that we have much to learn from Indigenous ways of knowing.

At the Center for Earth Ethics’ recent “Spirit of Place: A Hudson Valley Climate Training,” the convergence of different ways of knowing came alive in profound ways. It began with participants bringing offerings from their home—water (including some contaminated with toxins), leaves from backyard plants and rocks from cherished lands. This simple act of bringing physical elements from home transformed what could have been another academic conference into something far more powerful: a gathering that acknowledged the emotional, spiritual and scientific dimensions of the environmental and climate crisis.

The Limits of “Science” Alone

For too long, communities suffering from environmental injustices have been told their concerns need to be validated through “hard science” before being taken seriously. Many communities spend decades knowing that something is wrong and continually being dismissed.

In Newburgh, New York, for example, community members have spent years advocating for an adequate response to the contamination of their drinking water. Between the early 1990s and 2016, residents were drinking tap water contaminated with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which had been running off from Stewart Air National Guard Base into Washington Lake, the city’s primary drinking water reservoir. A 2016-2017 study by the New York Department of Health found PFAS levels in the blood of Newburg’s residents to be nearly four times the national average.

Science eventually confirmed what the community already knew, but the delay in recognition caused decades of unnecessary suffering. This pattern repeats across environmental justice communities nationwide, where communities of color are experiencing 7.5 times higher pediatric asthma rates and 1.3 times higher mortality rates due to air pollution.

STEM Opportunities and Community Science

Environmental justice communities desperately need more of their young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. These communities need scientists, engineers and technical experts who understand not just the chemistry of contamination but the human cost of environmental racism. They need researchers who can navigate both peer-reviewed journals and community meetings, and who can translate complex data into actionable information for grassroots organizing.

But there’s another dimension to this work that’s equally critical: recognizing and elevating the scientific knowledge that already exists within these communities—whether it is the traditional ecological knowledge of Indigenous communities or the wisdom of communities that have long experienced environmental injustices and have been careful observers of nature. They notice when fish migrations change, when children develop asthma at unusually high rates, and when water tastes different. They notice when they have less access to healthy food, when heat waves become more frequent, when trees are removed, and where green space gives way to concrete and asphalt.

When we make space for multiple ways of knowing—scientific, traditional, experiential, spiritual—we create more robust, effective responses to environmental crises.

Practical Integration

In the Hudson Valley gathering, we witnessed the integration of diverse ways of knowing in action. Faith leaders moderated discussions about climate science—not as typical academic presentations, but as rich conversations that brought together scientific knowledge, Indigenous wisdom, community observation, spiritual practice and collective action. Participants engaged with empirical data on rising temperatures and shifting weather patterns, and they connected with organizations like Riverkeeper to learn how scientific testing of water supports environmental and climate justice advocacy.

Community members contributed observations about changes they are seeing in the places they live, providing local insights that often guide or supplement scientific investigation. Indigenous voices offered rooted, place-based knowledge. For example, the Hudson River—known as Mahicantuck by Indigenous peoples of the region, meaning “river that flows two ways”—was elevated as a symbol of layered understanding.

Faith and spiritual leaders created space for participants to process the emotional and spiritual weight of the climate crisis through ceremony, prayer and shared rituals, helping people engage with climate grief and anxiety in a meaningful way. Finally, the gathering fostered networks among communities facing similar ecological challenges, encouraging collaboration and strengthening the broader movement.

Faith as a Bridge

Religious and spiritual communities have unique roles to play in integrating different ways of knowing in the service of environmental justice work. They provide:

Moral authority: Faith traditions offer ethical frameworks that can challenge systems of exploitation.
Community infrastructure: Churches, mosques, synagogues and temples are trusted gathering spaces.
Ritual and healing: Communities need ways to process environmental grief and trauma.
Long-term vision: Faith communities think in generational timescales, which is essential for climate work.

As Pope Francis wrote in Laudato Si’ (2015), “Although it is true that we Christians have at times incorrectly interpreted the Scriptures, nowadays we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.”

The path to environmental justice runs through both the laboratory and the sanctuary, through both data collection and ceremony.

The Path Forward

Environmental justice requires more than good data or good intentions. It requires a fundamental shift in how we understand knowledge itself. Learning directly from the land opens up opportunities not only for intellectual understanding of natural systems but also for the emotional and spiritual experience of authentically sensing the reality of interdependence.

When we make space for multiple ways of knowing—scientific, traditional, experiential, spiritual—we create more robust, effective responses to environmental crises. We honor the intelligence of communities that have been on the frontlines of environmental and climate degradation. We recognize that the path to environmental justice runs through both the laboratory and the sanctuary, through both data collection and ceremony.

The communities most impacted by environmental injustices have always known this. They’ve always understood that fighting for clean water is both a technical challenge that requires scientific expertise and a moral imperative that requires spiritual strength.

As we face accelerating and interwoven ecological crises and persistent environmental injustice, we need every tool available. That means training more community members in STEM fields. It means respecting and incorporating traditional ecological knowledge. And it means creating spaces where science and spirit can work together in the service of justice.

Gregory Simpson

Gregory Simpson is a senior fellow at Center for Earth Ethics.

Tory Field

Tory Field is a research and teaching associate at Center for Earth Ethics.