ASU ecologist advance education, research in Eurasia, Latin American
Andrew Smith
Educational outreach and local
communities’ participation are
central to Brigitte Hogan’s field work.
Photography by Andrew Smith
December 10, 2007 – Observing furry small mammals on the stark, windswept Tibetan plateau at 14,000 feet initially doesn’t seem to translate into transformational research, but the small animals in question are the plateau pika, and they represent a keystones species in this ecosystem. Key meaning that everything in their grassland habitat - the birds, insects, grasses, on up to the human communities and their livestock - depends on the presence of pikas. Viewed much as prairie dogs of the Midwest and also poisoned in record numbers, only recently have the local people and the Chinese government come to understand that living pikas = human survival. This understanding in China, Mongolia, and Tibet has come from the research and educational efforts of Andrew Smith, associate director of Undergraduate Programs and Parent’s Association Professor in the School of Life Sciences, and his graduate student Brigitte Hogan. Hogan is determining the ecosystem services that pikas provide on the alpine grasslands of Tibet and has mastered Chinese to facilitate her field work, with support from the National Science Foundation predoctoral graduate fellowship program (NSF) and a National Security Exchange Program David L.Boren Fellowship (NSEP).
Smith knows that mentoring, educational outreach, and work with regional research partners are central to his group’s research programs. With Smith’s students’ thesis projects taking them into remote and rural communities –
Hogan to Tibet, Sarah Boyle to the Brazilian rainforest, and Mimi Kessler to the steppes of Mongolia and Kazakhstan – educational outreach and local communities’ participation and understanding are central not only to their research efforts, but are creating the next generation of biologists, informed citizens, and local policy makers.
Kessler studies an endangered migratory species, the Great Bustard, about whose feeding, mating, hunting habits little is understood. Kessler has built a research program that encompasses both Mongolian scientists and school children in data collection, tagging, and tracking these large birds. Fluent in Russian, two dialects of Mongolian, Uzbek and some Kazakh, Kessler can cross cultural and ethnic lines as easily as her highflying study subjects. With funds from NSF, NSEP, and with additional support from the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Microwave Telemetry (a private company that manufacturers satellite tracking devices), Kessler is teaching local Mongolian school children from the families of nomadic herders (now armed with binoculars) how to do research: from netting and tagging the bustards to observation. These efforts open their eyes to a broader world and encourage them to achieve future educational goals.
Boyle, a Graduate Fulbright Fellow, is researching the effect of forest fragmentation on primate populations in Brazil – an effort that will greatly assist conservation biologists manage this increasingly endangered ecosystem. Fluent in Portuguese, her mentoring skills have provided research and educational opportunities for her Latin American peers. Notes Smith of his doctoral student: “Sarah has undertaken the training of two terrific women interns, who are now positioned to advance professionally in Brazil, one with the goal of becoming the first professional female Brazilian primatologist from Amazonia.”
Smith stands in awe of his students, and their successes and drives to build overseas connections, education and research programs. “It is exceptional to have one student of their caliber in your lab, but to have three remarkable women all at the same time has been phenomenal. Not only are Brigitte, Sarah and Mimi incredibly hard working, as single women working in male-dominated cultures they’ve also had to overcome tremendous obstacles, including sexual harassment and midnight knocks on the door by the Public Security Bureau - yet each has remained focused and is conducting cutting edge research.”
For more details:
Media Contacts:
Margaret Coulombe
(480) 727-8934
margaret.coulombe@asu.edu