The science behind the trip is rather interesting, though, so I'd like to share it. Basically, Penn's biology department got a $2.5 million grant through NSF's Partnerships for International Research and Education--hence, PIRE Mongolia. The grant money must last Penn for the five years of the project.
Several different Penn biologists are studying different things in Mongolia, but they all collaborate on one of the main features of the program dealing with education and collaboration. The scientific infrastructure in Mongolia is underdeveloped to say the least. Out in the field, we certainly didn't have PCR machines, nor did we have access to quality labs in UB. The Mongolian students had a great understanding of plant taxonomy, but, apparently, their educations lack quality statistics or evolution courses. Penn professors will be coming to Mongolia in following years solely to teach courses in the field.
Dr. Brenda Casper is one of the leading researchers on the project. Her research normally focuses on mycorrhizal fungi and their effects on plant ecology. Since little research has been done on these vital fungi in Mongolia, she did bring back some root samples for analysis, but her main project dealt with predicting the future!
No, Dr. Casper is not clairvoyant, but she did set up four hexagonal warming chambers out in the field. These chambers, similar to mini-, open-topped greenhouses, will simulate the warmer temperatures scientists predict Mongolia will experience 20-30 years from now. Dr. Casper will look at the changes experienced by vegetation in these chambers and the many more she will put up next year. Most of the vegetation sampling I did helped to get "baseline readings" on the state of vegetation in the valley.
On a larger scale, Dr. Brent Helliker brought an existing project to Mongolia. He already studies tree rings and their reactions to past temperature shifts. The rings can tell him a lot about how the vegetation fared. He will use his results to look at the interaction between the border of the grasslands and forests throughout Northern Mongolia. Which ecosystem will win the warming war? Only time (and data) will tell.
Now this research is fantastic, but why couldn't these geniuses have done their work in, I don't know, Pennsylvania? For one thing, Mongolia is located at a much higher latitude. At higher latitudes, the atmosphere is thinner, leading to higher overall concentrations of that famous greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. This means quicker, more dramatic, climate changing trends.
Although Northern Mongolia is relatively untouched by humans, the herders played a big part in making Mongolia a prime research destination. Over the centuries that Mongolian herders have herded, they've become a part of the region's ecology. As that ecosystem changes, we can see one of the best examples of how a people so closely tied to the Earth will have to change with it.
While students didn't complete their own projects this year, plans for next year will probably incorporate undergraduate research. I won't be back from Germany in time to participate, but my friend Brian is already trying to think of ideas. I'd say he's got a pretty fine spread of options.
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