Elinor Ostrom became the first woman to win the Nobel Economics Prize today, for her studies in natural resource preservation in the wake of an economic crisis. Her research shows that the best way to maintain precious ecosystems such as fisheries and forests is not necessarily through government control or privatization of land by businesses. Rather, Ostrom supports the notion of common control of natural resources, through greater citizen and community involvement. “When individuals have this way of working together officially and can build trust and respect they may be able to solve problems,” Ostom explained at a press conference today, “there is a lot of indigenous knowledge we have to respect.”