Human+Nature Blog

Sept. 8, 2015

Thomas Connor is a first-year PhD student studying with Jack Liu. He's spending his summer doing field work in and around Wolong, China. 

I returned from my first trip to China. Happily I was able to recover enough to get back into the field, but alas only once. We hiked to the border of Wolong Nature Reserve and the reserve to the north, Caopo. This area had excellent panda habitat and we found four different fecal samples. From a conservation perspective this was nice to see, as it is clear that pandas can move freely between these two reserves. In the future I hope to use genetic data from fecal sampling to evaluate connectivity between Wolong and neighboring reserves and unprotected across a larger area.

Aug. 25, 2015

James Roche is a member of the Hal and Jean Glassen Scholars Program working with the Michigan Sea Grant Extension Program Office.  

Some would argue that the ultimate goal for the human condition is understanding. If we could truly understand how the world works and interacts, maybe then we could find the answers to the biggest issues we face.

During my time with Michigan Sea Grant Extension here at MSU I have tried to do just using the telecoupling framework developed here at MSU by Jianguo "Jack" Liu. Telecoupling seeks to examine the environmental and socioeconomic systems that occur in local areas and how our global interaction over long distances must be understood in order to develop a more sustainable world. In my first attempt to apply telecoupling to the Great Lakes, I turn to the mainstay of any great breakfast, maple syrup.

Aug. 4, 2015

Thomas Connor is a first-year PhD student studying with Jack Liu. He's spending his summer doing field work in and around Wolong, China. 

I have now been in China for almost two months, and realized I have not written any updates for quite some time. Perhaps this is because they would be too depressing! I unfortunately injured my knee a few weeks ago crashing a moped which brought my fieldwork to a halt, and when I tried to salvage the situation by working some in a lab I learned that I needed a finalized agreement before I could continue studying there. It was for the best anyway as even small amounts of walking in a day caused pain and soreness.

July 23, 2015

Anna Herzberger is an MSU Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability doctoral student studying Chinese at Peking University the summer of 2015. She hails from the farmlands of Virginia, Ilinois.

I am learning how to fail honorably.  

I traveled half way around the world to study the Chinese language and make connections that would be helpful throughout my graduate research. Much to my surprise and a little to my dismay, the most applicable skill I am learning from this journey is how to fail.