Student Research Assistant at Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science in Nanjing, China
This work term, I was in China working as a student research assistant in the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science. It is a national scientific research institution directly affiliated with the Ministry of Environmental Protection. I work under the department of biodiversity. My duty includes field surveying in protected areas, comparing the collected data with historical records, as well as preparing for international conventions.
We survey for all aspects of biodiversity in multiple locations across the country, including aquatic and land animals, plants, insects, fungi, and traditional knowledge. As spring approaches, we will also conduct animal transect line surveys and plant plot surveys. This project will help us understand the current condition of our wildlife populations, and guide conservation decisions. The next UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP 15) will be hosted in Kunming, China. To prepare for these conferences, I research conservation programs and policies in other countries and summarize them into reports. I also participate in the second-order draft reviewing process of the IPBES report. It’s an assessment of the diverse values and valuation of nature and its contributions to people by Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
