International Education: Five years, four faculty, 60 undergrads
and almost three quarters of a million dollars …
Presented by: Dr. Roberta Soltz
Invited Speaker – Shippensburg University
International Education Week 2009
Ph.D. Biology, 1982
20-year career in water resource
management, adjunct faculty biology
Currently, flood control project manager in
Bloomsburg, PA where Dave serves as
President, BU
Primary interests: sustainable practices,
WRM, biodiversity
International, interdisciplinary, interesting
Objective: Train undergraduates how to
undertake social science research in China
while exploring the impact of China’s rapid
economic development on its environment
and water resources
Award 0139677-funded at $342,000, 20022006 (2003 cancelled, SARS). 47 students
Award 0851541-funded at $404,000, 20092012
Perspective: History, sociology, economics &
environment: US and Chinese counterparts.
Student/faculty ratio: 4 to 1
Domestic/international venues: 4 weeks each
Outcome: 4 papers, presentations,
publications (+)
Evolution: Governmental/private activities
towards sustainability along southeast coast
to beleaguered northwest
There is agreement that we should live within
the earth’s means to support us and that
sustainable development is possible
Volumes of “best-practices” have been
published
Notwithstanding, there are world-wide crises
in water & air quality, desertification & soil
loss
We have failed individually and institutionally
to live in a sustainable manner
Per capita water/land availability 1/3 world
average
One of the world’s most fragile dry-land
ecosystems*: Loess Plateau
Focus of Great Northwest Development
Strategy (March 1999)
* China contains more than twice as much than any other single country and
about half of it is already seriously degraded
640,000 km2
90 million people
Average annual income < ½ national average
Population politically and economically
marginalized
Loses 1.6 billion tons of soil/year – one of the
most erosive climates in the world
25% particulates in LA can be traced to China
Severe deforestation and erosion on the
Loess/Tibetan Plateau…w/ severe water
quality problems downstream
(sedimentation and flooding)
Loss of prime agricultural land
Degraded biodiversity
Use of headwaters as wastewater
conveyance
Poor understanding/appreciation watershed
function
2000 years of intense cultivation in lowlands
by Salar minority people
Pastoral activity by Tibetans on fragile soil at
higher elevations
Decreasing diversity of cultivated crops at
both high and low elevation
Decreasing diversity in biological
communities with related erosion natural
function of watersheds
Incremental loss of farmland downstream
Incremental loss of small farms in favor of
larger operations owned by individuals or
groups of individuals not in touch with the
land
Identify and preserve existing, high quality
stands of natural vegetation
Flood control for agricultural areas downstream
Impose reasonable fees for water, pesticides and
fertilizer
Identify significant watersheds and protect
topsoil
Rebuild damaged habitats, especially grasslands
Promote ecosystem management research and
education and train professionals to help solve
problems
Baba Dioum
1968
In the end, we will
conserve only what
we love. We will
love only what we
understand. We will
understand only what
we are taught.
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