This past summer I had the opportunity to spend 9 weeks in Sichuan, a beautiful and culturally rich province in southwestern China. Along with four other undergraduate students and two professors from UF, I learned about Chinese culture and language, collaborated with Chinese graduate students, and developed and implemented an independent research project. The program we were a part of, International Research Experiences for Students (IRES), is funded by the National Science Foundation and expands opportunities for students from the U.S. to conduct research abroad while becoming more culturally competent individuals. 
Making Friends and Connections
During our time there, I formed close friendships with the other students, two of whom came from universities outside of Florida, and benefited from the incredible mentorship of our professors, Dr. Vanessa Hull and Dr. Masa Fujimoto. The first half of our summer was spent taking introductory Chinese language lessons at the sponsoring local institution, China West Normal University at Nanchong, and going on cultural trips around the province with the International Center. We visited the ancient city of Langzhong, where we got to wear the beautiful traditional style clothing known as “Hanfu.” We hiked up the narrow cliffside “Bird Path” at Jianmen Pass, which overlooks the tops of trees and mountains extending all the way to the horizon. In Guangyang City, we walked through an ancient cypress forest with trees upwards of two millennia old. What struck me in every place we visited was the sheer amount of history behind each and every road, temple, and cultural practice. I learned so much about how diverse China really is, with dozens of ethnic minorities with unique clothing, art forms, and dialects. It was beautiful to see firsthand how much pride people have in their culture.
Experiencing Art and Culture
One of the coolest things we got to experience was meeting various artisanal masters, who each practiced crafts with techniques that mirrored those used in ancient times. We learned from masters in silk painting, calligraphy, paper cutting, rug weaving, and shadow puppetry. We got to see the artists in the process of creating and viewed galleries of their ornate work that reflected decades of practice. Every artist we encountered was excited to teach us about their craft and guided us through hands-on demonstrations. . The welcome we received from them was equally as warm as the welcome we received from shop owners, cooks, city officials, and even people on the street in all the places we visited.
Developing Independent Research Projects
The second half of the summer, we worked more closely with the lab led by Dr. Jindong Zhang at China West Normal University, which leads wild panda research in the Sichuan province of China. We learned about the ongoing graduate research projects and were encouraged to take inspiration from their projects, collaborate with them, or even develop our own. I started out interested in exploring the existing camera trap data from the Wolong Nature Reserve, which is home to many wild pandas, red pandas, and even wandering livestock from nearby villages. Other students looked at things like wild panda scent marking behaviors and interactions between pandas and livestock. Another even conducted a survey investigating how much university students understood about the Yi ethnic minority, one of the largest in Sichuan province. Dr. Hull and Dr. Fujimoto were extremely supportive of our individual interests and encouraged us to pursue topics that aligned with those interests.
Pollinator Project
I ended up designing a project with another student that looked at the pollinator species richness and abundance across different levels of urbanization in the city of Nanchong. This project allowed us to traverse the city of five million- plus people, visiting urban parks, temples, and farmlands. We received support from Dr. Li from the local university, who provided us with materials to capture pollinators that we observed for identification. This was one of my favorite parts of the program, as we got to explore parts of the city and surrounding parks that we had never seen before. Some of the temples we visited were akin to tourist attractions, but others were devoid of people and allowed us to feel like we stepped back in time. Working on this project allowed the other student and I to hone our skills in designing methodologies and adapting to unpredictable conditions in a field setting. Upon returning to the University of Florida in the fall semester, we presented our project at the Undergraduate Research Symposium, which was my first time compiling my work in a professional setting.
Saying Goodbye
The end of the summer was bittersweet. I didn’t want the program to end, but I felt good knowing that I was coming away with four new close friends with shared interests, two amazing mentors, and two months of memories. I highly recommend applying for this upcoming summer and also taking a look at other IRES and REU programs funded by the National Science Foundation! If you are interested, the deadline for the Summer in China is
January 3rd, 2025. You can apply through Dr. Vanessa Hull’s website here.
