122
This specially designed, short but focused, unit provided the best format for the
students to understand the problems by equally mixing classroom lectures, fi eldwork and sampling, as well as community consultations. This, nontraditional format educational concept is one of the aspects most highly appreciated by all the
students who took part.
8.2 Collaboration with APIEL in Oasis Unit
3 , 4
Cold and Arid Regions Environment and Engineering Research Institute (CAREERI),
Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the Chinese collaborative partner in the APIEL for
Oasis Unit (see Table 8.1 ). CAREERI is a large research institute that has seven laboratories and three research centers, highlighting the characteristics of the glacier, desert, and
alpine areas of ecological environments and the sustainable development of resources.
The memorandum of understanding on academic cooperation between the Graduate
Program in Sustainability Science, UT, and the Laboratory of Remote Sensing and
Geospatial Science, CAREERI, was signed on 31 December 2008. The APIEL Oasis
Unit was designed and developed at that time. Since then, for 4 consecutive years, joint
fi eldwork was performed in the Heihe River basin, the second largest inland river basin
in China. The river basin is also an important scientifi c research base for CAREERI and
even for the whole country. Forty-one students from 14 countries in total have joined
the joint fi eldwork during the past 4 years. There are 14 students and 4 professors
from CAREERI that have joined the fi eldwork (Table 8.1 ). Students and teachers from
CAREERI are familiar with the Heihe River basin; they supported the members
from UT by providing relevant data, information, and suggestions.
Another important partner of the joint fi eldwork comes from the Zhangye Water
Authority. In particular, Director Tuo Xingfu, Vice Director Liu Guoqiang, Luan
Limin, Zhang Wenwu, and Liu Xiaojun from the water authority contributed to the
fi eldwork signifi cantly through their active participation and full support. The local
water resource managers have a deep understanding of local environmental problems, and they also have abundant experiences dealing with those problems.
As Chinese-side participants, CAREERI students take the role of collaborators
during fi eldwork. Because there are some differences between their studying specialties and the investigative contents of the fi eldwork, the improvement in specialized knowledge is relatively limited. But our students have benefi ted a great deal
from the following two perspectives:
1. English conversation and application ability : This is a distinct opportunity for
CAREERI students to use their English in real-world situations. UT students
3 This subchapter was written by three authors of Mingguo Ma, Xin Li and Yuan Qi from Cold and
Arid Regions Environment and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
China.
4 Further information about Oasis Unit can be found in Chap. 5 .
N. Baromey et al.
This specially designed, short but focused, unit provided the best format for the
students to understand the problems by equally mixing classroom lectures, fi eldwork and sampling, as well as community consultations. This, nontraditional format educational concept is one of the aspects most highly appreciated by all the
students who took part.
8.2 Collaboration with APIEL in Oasis Unit
3 , 4
Cold and Arid Regions Environment and Engineering Research Institute (CAREERI),
Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the Chinese collaborative partner in the APIEL for
Oasis Unit (see Table 8.1 ). CAREERI is a large research institute that has seven laboratories and three research centers, highlighting the characteristics of the glacier, desert, and
alpine areas of ecological environments and the sustainable development of resources.
The memorandum of understanding on academic cooperation between the Graduate
Program in Sustainability Science, UT, and the Laboratory of Remote Sensing and
Geospatial Science, CAREERI, was signed on 31 December 2008. The APIEL Oasis
Unit was designed and developed at that time. Since then, for 4 consecutive years, joint
fi eldwork was performed in the Heihe River basin, the second largest inland river basin
in China. The river basin is also an important scientifi c research base for CAREERI and
even for the whole country. Forty-one students from 14 countries in total have joined
the joint fi eldwork during the past 4 years. There are 14 students and 4 professors
from CAREERI that have joined the fi eldwork (Table 8.1 ). Students and teachers from
CAREERI are familiar with the Heihe River basin; they supported the members
from UT by providing relevant data, information, and suggestions.
Another important partner of the joint fi eldwork comes from the Zhangye Water
Authority. In particular, Director Tuo Xingfu, Vice Director Liu Guoqiang, Luan
Limin, Zhang Wenwu, and Liu Xiaojun from the water authority contributed to the
fi eldwork signifi cantly through their active participation and full support. The local
water resource managers have a deep understanding of local environmental problems, and they also have abundant experiences dealing with those problems.
As Chinese-side participants, CAREERI students take the role of collaborators
during fi eldwork. Because there are some differences between their studying specialties and the investigative contents of the fi eldwork, the improvement in specialized knowledge is relatively limited. But our students have benefi ted a great deal
from the following two perspectives:
1. English conversation and application ability : This is a distinct opportunity for
CAREERI students to use their English in real-world situations. UT students
3 This subchapter was written by three authors of Mingguo Ma, Xin Li and Yuan Qi from Cold and
Arid Regions Environment and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
China.
4 Further information about Oasis Unit can be found in Chap. 5 .
N. Baromey et al.