This Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) provides funding for a U.S., early career scientist and a graduate student to participate in a bilateral U.S.-China Telemetry Planning Meeting and Avian Influenza Coordination Session to be held in Beijing, China from January 6-18, 2007. The planning meeting will precede field research in April-May 2007 on Qinghai Lake to outfit thirty (30) bar-headed geese with 70g solar GPS satellite transmitters. The bilateral research is responsive to a time-sensitive opportunity for U.S. personnel to utilize the newly opened Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) Qinghai Lake Reserve Joint Research Center. The exploratory research will use satellite telemetry to determine the timing, pathways, stopover locations, and habitat use of bar-headed geese originating from the Qinghai Lake breeding grounds and track interaction with domesticated poultry populations. The Co-PIs in the U.S. are Dr. Erle Ellis, Assistant Professor in the department of Geography and Environmental Systems, and Diann Prosser, Ph.D. candidate in the department of Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Studies, both at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The Chinese partners are Dr. LEI, Fumin, CAS Institute of Zoology, and Professor YAN, Baoping, CAS Computer Network Information Center. Multiple additional U.S. and Chinese research institutes are involved in the project.
