As part of its global outreach, the Geography Department has offered the program since 2000 and over 100 students have participated in exploring China and the Tibetan Plateau.
Central and eastern Tibet are regions graphically defined by deep river canyons, snow capped mountains and expansive grasslands. Days spent exploring such places as the Kangri Karpo Mountains with their massive glaciers, rebuilt temples and dense forests provided a firsthand appreciation of the physical and cultural attributes that define this part of Tibet.
In conjunction with International Education Week, students will showcase their fieldwork in this remote part of the world. Until recently, the region’s isolation offered a measure of protection for its unspoiled landscape and rich biodiversity, yet change is rapidly placing increasing pressure on its natural and cultural resources.
Past field trips have taken students to many of the great rivers of Asia, and this year, sections of the Yellow, Yangtze, Mekong, and Salween Rivers were re-visited. Identifying the inherent character of these river basins, and especially the upper tributaries of the Tsangpo River and noting the factors affecting the preservation and wise use of their assets was an ongoing theme of this field trip.
Students were also fortunate to assist a local Tibetan community in their temple building project; the hours spent provided a small gesture of repayment for the warm hospitality encountered during the trip.
For more information contact:
Tony Rossi, Program Director
Department of Geography
E-mail: afr2@humboldt.edu