Media Release

For Immediate Release

July 21, 2008

Biology and sociology students begin field course in China

Students from Saint Mary’s University, Acadia and Dalhousie have joined a group of Chinese students from Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, to take a joint Biology/Sociology Field Course in the majestic Qinling Mountains of central China.

The field station is located in one of four villages (population of about 600) making up the town of Xun Yang Ba at an elevation of 1,300 metres. The village is known for its coniferous forest products, medicinal plants, and production of corn, potatoes, honey, and mushrooms. The surrounding mountains are considered a temperate biodiversity hot spot where – just south of the town – panda bears and other rare exotic vertebrates reside in bamboo forests.

The students are learning how biologists describe biological communities and how sociologists do the same with human communities. The intent is to develop an understanding of the linkages between these disciplines and apply this knowledge to research projects during the field course. For example, Xun Yang Ba villagers rely heavily on the services offered by the surrounding, relatively pristine, system: this includes much of their food, shelter, and well-being, so students are able to examine first hand the relationship between the village and the surrounding ecosystem.

After four busy days of structured exercises the students are designing projects that ask questions surrounding the structure of the biological communities and their diversity in relation to the activities of the town, including: trends relative to agriculture; impact of the village on the river running through the heart of the town; and how the village, as seen through a community resource map, varies in structure and function within the surrounding ecosystem.

Students enrolled in the course have the opportunity to experience a different culture by living in the village and working along side Chinese students.

Ryan Burke, 20, from Halifax, is a fourth-year honors student majoring in Biology and Psychology at Saint Mary’s. According to Burke, doing research in the context of a rural Chinese village is very different from learning about biology in the classroom.

“Out here you can really feel free to roam around and look at the surrounding ecosystems and see all the biological diversity.” Burke and his classmates spent the vast majority of their days outside in the field. He explains, for instance, that they went down to the bottom of the river bed that runs the span of the community and looked at the diversity of plant life there.

Burke said that one of the most interesting aspects of his experience so far is seeing the links between the biological and social aspects of community in the rural village that they are studying.  

“There are so many different things you can look at here. Seeing how the people interact not only with each other but also with their environment is really interesting,” said Burke. “Are they knowledgeable about their effect on the environment? Are they knowledgeable about how they’re depleting their resources?”

When asked about his first impressions of the village they are staying in, Burke admits that while quite remote, it has still surpassed anything he was expecting.

“There seems like there’s a good sense of community here. We were probably the biggest surprise they’ve had here in a while,” he said.

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For more information:

Blake Patterson
Public Affairs Officer
Saint Mary's University, Public Affairs
(902) 420.5514
E-mail: blake.patterson@smu.ca
www.smu.ca