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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.