The group fans out and I find myself drawn to murmurs and shouts of more scat peppered throughout this flat and open terrain. Dr. Watine visits each person and I notice a smile curling on her lips. She marches proudly to the front of the group and clears her throat “This might very well be a wolf rendezvous site…” An explosion of whispers erupts between us but is quickly silenced by Dr. Watine “…and therefore I will be performing a wolf call in an attempt to bring some in.”
The process is simple; find the temperature loggers, which are small devices buried underneath rocks that track temperature data over a year and download the data onto a computer for research. Probably sounds easy to anyone who hasn’t looked for a temperature logger before. But the catch is, one of them is always nearly impossible to find. It’s like a game of hide and seek with your friends, but one of them goes into the yard and digs a hole in the ground to hide.
he park hosted us a dance and with much enthusiasm and energy we learned the Russian waltz. This waltz is easy(ish) to learn and looks great the faster you can do it. By the time night fell we were spinning and swaying together to the sounds of Mongolian music and Amka and Badmaa’s singing.
The Vansemberuu trip has offered me adrenaline-fueled adventures that have left me with unforgettable memories. These memories allowed me to appreciate this area that boasts a wide range of natural wonders. As I ventured into the great outdoors, I immersed myself in the beauty of rolling grassland, snow-capped peaks, and dramatic canyons.
As there is no word in Mongolian for “schedule” or “stress,” there was no rush to start. It was only when everyone was present and ready to begin that Naadam commenced.
The plants begin to consume your mind, you walk with your eyes constantly scanning the ground for the tracks of who may have been here before you. There’s this feeling when you began to understand an ecosystem. It is almost as is you start to move through these spaces as if you are one with it, rather than above it.
Conservation is one language. To speak it is to approach the natural landscape through a valuable scientific lens. But we cannot account for the words our language misses. The cultural and historical connections, the footers at the end of the page. This highlights the importance of incorporating traditional ecological knowledge, such as Nyman’s, into conservation efforts. The more knowledge that can be compiled, the more likely we will be to truly conserve these landscapes in their entirety, not just in the language we understand.
I am very excited to be working on my research project here in the Darhad Valley, which looks at the recent decline of Daurian Pika through traditional ecological knowledge. Mongolia has been an amazing learning and cultural experience thus far, and I hope you enjoy reading about our many Pika days in the field!
The next day we went out to retrieve four camera traps, it was going to be a long day for us all. We packed our daypacks and set off toward the Mongash River, which is still frozen enough to walk on safely. We decided that since we had extra cameras, there was an interest in setting a camera up to watch the ice of the river melt on a timelapse setting to retrieve in a few weeks when the ice breaks and melts. The cameras all went smoothly, and we captured boar, elk, moose, and other smaller mammals.
By Sophia Adami-Sampson of Bowdoin College My name is Sophia Adami-Sampson and I am a completing my degree in Biology from Bowdoin College with the Round River program in Mongolia. Before our journey to base camp in the Darhad Valley,…
, I reflected on this aspect of my time abroad because my overall experience in Botswana was far beyond what words can describe. The people of the Okavango Delta radiate warmth and care for their environment and all people they encounter, so if you’re considering this Round River program or visiting Botswana, I would encourage you to try and understand the people, wildlife, culture, and words that shape this beautiful country as it will give your experience even greater value.
The parents who taught me to fish loved sending me to study abroad in Botswana. They sent me down to the creek to grow up with crawdads and copperheads, so crocodiles were a natural progression. “Our daughter’s going to Africa!” they’d say to anyone who’d listen at the St. Louis, MO airport. I was their little fish swimming out to a big pond — a very big, very scary pond full of lions.
By Kendall Muzzy of the University of Vermont Last research trip officially in the books! For the past 3 days, we have been in the Tamango sector of Patagonia National Park collecting data for the Least Acceptable Change (LAC)…
By Emily Rothe of the University of Vermont First research expedition in the books – heck yeah! This was our longest trip of the program and it’s gonna be a hard one to beat! We collected seeds, removed invasive plants,…
By Maddy Love of the University of Vermont Mo here, coming at you from basecamp with quite the story to tell about a band of fools that took on the greatest adventure of them all, collecting data for the Campesinos…