University and AgCenter scientists will soon be able to exchange wetlands information and resources with a Chinese institute thanks to a recently signed agreement.
The goal of the agreement is to join forces to learn more about how wetlands systems work and determine the best, up-to-date practices for protecting those fragile environments.
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Stuart Bell and Vice President for Agriculture Bill Richardson signed a letter of intent on Oct. 29 in Baton Rouge with Xingyuan He, director general of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Northeast Institute of Geography and Agro-ecology (NEIGAE).
Richardson said the exchange will establish a channel for AgCenter faculty who specialize in wetlands to work with their Chinese counterparts as well as students. This will be valuable, he said, because both institutions are home to high-quality scientists dedicated to studying wetlands, which face significant problems in China and the U.S.
“I think we have a lot to gain from working with them, and they have a lot to gain working with us,” Richardson said. “It’s a true joint venture.”
Carl Motsenbocker, horticulture professor and program director for LSU AgCenter International Programs, said this agreement came about through faculty grassroots efforts rather than administrative recommendations, meaning University faculty can pursue the relationship with NEIGAE relative to their needs and interests. NEIGAE invited University faculty who research wetlands to a forum this summer, where the date to sign the letter was set.
University students and faculty — particularly those in the School of the Coast and Environment and the School of Renewable Natural Resources — will eventually have the chance to study and research at NEIGAE on exchanges.
For students, this is valuable because they get to function in another society while learning about issues that are important at home, while faculty benefit by having those experiences to bring back to classes at the University, Motsenbocker said.
NEIGAE, located in Changchun in northeastern China, specializes in advancing wetlands science internationally as well as studying strategic demands on wetlands and resources in view of modern agricultural and environmental issues.
NEIGAE’s website states that it has cooperative research and academic arrangements with universities and institutes in more than 30 countries. Motsenbocker said NEIGAE also has an agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Wetlands Research Center in Lafayette, La.
Motsenbocker said this partnership helps bring together not only the U.S. and China, but it also unites University and AgCenter resources and talent to solve issues in which they both have interests. Combined with the agreement with the Wetlands Research Center, Louisiana’s relationship with NEIGAE represents a good way to coordinate work between two places where a specific type of research is in demand, he said.
“There’s a great need for collaboration and also exchange of scientists to come and visit how our issues are being investigated and being resolved,” he said.
China is the only other place facing wetlands issues similar to those in Louisiana, Motsenbocker said. Louisiana is already developing resources, technology and education methods that will prove valuable in exchanges with NEIGAE, he said.
“I think we have a lot to gain from working with them and they have a lot to gain working with us. It’s a true joint venture.”