After taking community and tribal input, the Manoomin Team aimed to address mixed concerns regarding the state of the restored wild rice — some members of the community feared the rice because of the water it was living in, while others thought that if manoomin was present and growing, it must be healthy, according to Ojibway.
The Hua Lab at UW, led by associate professor within the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology Jessica Hua, has been a key partner in testing samples for heavy metals and PFAS.
“What we know so far … is that wild rice plants, the way that they grow, the way they make seed, is pretty protective of people’s health,” Erickson said. “I think we feel pretty good about people eating rice in the estuary and we can share that with people.”