{"id":199,"date":"2016-01-23T01:52:26","date_gmt":"2016-01-23T07:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/?p=199"},"modified":"2016-01-24T06:20:34","modified_gmt":"2016-01-24T12:20:34","slug":"projects-at-the-asian-rural-institute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/2016\/01\/23\/projects-at-the-asian-rural-institute\/","title":{"rendered":"Projects at the Asian Rural Institute"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the distinct advantages of working with undergraduates, is the creative, inquisitive energy they bring to the table. \u00a0This month I threw them into the deep end. \u00a0I asked them to develop some collaborative\u00a0research projects, define their contributions to the project, and work with a community partner in a country other than their own. \u00a0Our hosts at the Asian Rural Institute<\/a> (ARI) graciously accepted the idea of pursuing lines of inquiry that would assist them in delivering their own rural leadership training program and provide insights into the operation of their organic farm on about 9 ha of campus and rented lands. \u00a0Thus far I have been quite impressed with their determination to pursue lines of inquiry and be challenged by limits on the technology that could be applied to their questions.<\/p>\n

The crew of seven students spent the first few days at ARI exploring the landscape, brainstorming project ideas, and talking about their individual and collective interests. \u00a0What came out of those interactions was two overarching ideas: \u00a01. \u00a0Systems, subsystems and transfer to of processes and ideas to new locations; and 2. Landscape recovery from the 2011 Daiichi event, with particular interest in the forest-soil relationship.<\/p>\n

\"Example<\/a>
Example of ARI garden plot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Men's<\/a>
Men’s residence and guest residence.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some member of the first group are exploring how ARI systems for quick composting (Bokashi) can be modified for a larger African participant group, who use more wheat and maize compared to rice. \u00a0They created new bokashi recipes from ARI materials, log temperature development in those piles as a measure of their effectiveness, and want to help staff and future ARI participants visualize the organisms that make the system function, including indigenous microorganisms. \u00a0A few others are creating system diagrams and supporting narratives. \u00a0One plans to illustrate how all components of maize can be used in different ways at ARI, and the other is examining past participant information regarding system components readily transferred to other countries for small scale hog\/pig rearing.<\/p>\n

\"Preparing<\/a>
Preparing bokashi materials.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Gathering<\/a>
Gathering and grinding wheat for the bokashi compost.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The landscape team got very interested in the continued recovery post the March 2011 Daiichi event. \u00a0In particular, one student who went to a full-day session on Fukushima<\/a> at the 2015 American Geophysical Union meeting<\/a>, was very interested in\u00a0movement of radioactive material in the soil system. \u00a0Others wanted to know how much of these radioisotopes were still present in the forest canopy. \u00a0Rather than climbing tall trees, we retooled to look at the forest floor litter – upper most surface (recent growth) and the litter-soil interface (older growth). \u00a0Our Japanese colleagues at the ARI Becquerel Center<\/a> have provided valuable assistance to use in sample preparation and specifications for using their equipment. \u00a0It is a wonderful story – how local retired scientists with expertise in nuclear medicine have been partnering with ARI to analyze food and landscape samples for the last four years and plan to operate for at least ten years. \u00a0Lastly we have set up a few camera traps to help our ARI friends understand other organisms that use the landscape or that might be of concern for their animal rearing programs. \u00a0Within a few days, we captured some predators lurking near one of the chicken houses!<\/p>\n

\"ARI<\/a>
ARI Becquerel Center staff providing an introduction to their work for ASES 277 and 396 classes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cutting<\/a>
Cutting forest litter for sample submission to the ABC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pitching<\/a>
Pitching a project idea.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I am quite excited to see what kinds of stories the resulting data, analysis, and synthesis reveal. \u00a0Right now I think our community partner will be very pleased as will these young women and men doing the work! \u00a0Enjoy the images of our collaborative learning journey.<\/p>\n

\"Quick<\/a>
Quick image from a tour of the Watarase Retarding Basin with both classes (ASES 277 & 396)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Red<\/a>
Red fox caught on camera near chicken house<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Raccoon<\/a>
Raccoon dog caught on camera near chicken house<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the distinct advantages of working with undergraduates, is the creative, inquisitive energy they bring to the table. This month I threw them into the deep end. I asked them to develop some collaborative research projects, define their contributions to the project, and work with a community partner in a country other than their own. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,6,4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civic-engagement","category-japan","category-off-campus-study","category-teaching-learning"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/345\/2016\/01\/ARI_Residences.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":217,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions\/217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}