WKU Researchers, Students Conduct Water Resource Training In China

March 03, 2008

Bowling Green, Ky. - Researchers and graduate students from Western Kentucky University’s Hoffman Environmental Research Institute visited China during the second half of January to organize and conduct a karst field methods workshop and to conduct field mapping in Yunnan Province.  

The China Environmental Health Project, a multi-year program of WKU’s Hoffman Institute, is funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the ENVIRON Foundation. The CEHP has been made possible through the support of Kentucky’s senior Sen. Mitch McConnell. 

The China project is part of the Hoffman Institute’s global technology transfer initiative and is, in part, designed to assist other countries in developing their GIS capabilities.

“The workshop and the field mapping project mark another major accomplishment in meeting the goals of both USAID and ENVIRON Foundation support for the CEHP,” according to Dr. Chris Groves, director of the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute within WKU’s Applied Research and Technology Program. “Our long-term goal is to increase Chinese academic infrastructure for karst water resource development, of course ultimately to enhance environmental health in China in a sustainable way.”

The 2008 karst field methods workshop took place from Jan. 12-16 at Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing. The workshop was followed by a nine-day field session that included hydrologic karst inventory, field mapping, and water/soil sampling on the remote East Mountain plateau in Mengzi County, Yunnan Province.

WKU participants included Patricia Kambesis, assistant director of the Hoffman Institute; Erin Lynch, geoscience graduate student from Arlington, Va.; and Andrea Croskrey, a geoscience master’s graduate from Blakesburg, Iowa, with affiliated student researchers from partner universities including Duncan Collis, Alan Cressler, Matt Oliphant, Nancy Pistole and Charley Savvas. Participants from the Hoffman Institute’s partner university in China, Southwest University in Chongqing, included Dr. Jiang Yongjun, Lee Ling Lee, Li Yang Gang,  Wang Zhujuin, Xiao Loa, Mei Yang, and Pu Jan Bing.
 
The workshop covered instruction in basic hydrologic field work documentation, cave mapping and GPS methods; georeferencing of field data and transformation of field data into digital maps and GIS representations; and instruction in basic single rope techniques with a strong emphasis on safety.

A total of 14 graduate students and two faculty participated in the workshop at Southwest University in Beibei. After an initial overview and orientation for all students, the workshop was conducted in split sections of eight students each. A survey section was run concurrently with a single rope technique (SRT) section. After a break, the two groups of students switched sections so that all students received the same amount of instruction on each topic each day. Two instructors taught the survey session, which involved field mapping techniques and methods, digital cartography, and GIS.

Six instructors taught the SRT section. This allowed for a nearly one-to-one student/instructor ratio, which provided each student with focused instruction to mesh with their personal learning curves. Instructors were able to ensure that each and every student understood safety concerns and how to deal with them.

Team members for the East Mountain field work were Dr. Yongjun Jiang, co-leader, and Pat Kambesis, co-leader.
The SWU team included Lee Ling Lee, Li Yang Gang, Wang Zhujuin, Xiao Lo, Mei Yang, Pu Jan Bing; while the WKU team included Erin Lynch, Duncan Collis, Alan Cressler, Nancy Pistole, Matt Oliphant, Andrea Croskrey and Charley Savvas.

The primary goals of the East Mountain mapping expedition were:

A total of 57 karst features were located with GPS technology, and then mapped and photodocumented. Each feature was given a unique number and detailed descriptions were written up for all features. GPS track logs documented 150 kilometers of ground that were covered during the field reconnaissance. Twenty-seven shafts and 30 caves were documented and added to the GIS database. The Southwest University team, with support from the WKU team, collected 46 water and soil samples to be analyzed for water quality and contamination issues.  A detailed geologic and hydrologic report with maps will be produced from the field data generated in 2007 and 2008.

“This recent workshop and field mapping project in China are great examples of how WKU faculty and students are helping to improve both the intellectual and practical quality of life of individuals around the world,” said Dr. David Keeling, head of the Department of Geography and Geology. “The China Environmental Health Project is an exemplar for how Western Kentucky University is extending its international reach and making a measureable difference in people's lives both locally and globally.”
               

Photo caption: Students from Southwest University in China take field notes during a cave-mapping expedition.


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For information, contact Pat Kambesis at (270) 745-3961.