Earthwatch Award Recipient Summary

Awardee: Jiang Lu
Affiliation: Eastern Michigan University
Project: Chinese Village Traditions
Award: 2005 Young Scientist Award

Project Synopsis
Jiang Lu, and her colleagues Dr. Jin Feng (Iowa State University) and Dr. Anrong Dang (Tsinghua University) are documenting the folk traditions of Dang Jia Shan, or the village of the Dangs. This generations-old mountain village of 30 households in the northern Shaanxi Province of China, where villagers live in traditional cave dwellings, is being relocated to allow for a massive reforestation program. Before the villagers are moved to a more accessible location, with ordinary houses built near a highway and a river, Jiang Lu and her colleagues are recording every aspect of village life, from land use to interior design. Their findings will have important implications for sustainable development practices and may have an impact on future population relocation policies in China.

Award Outcomes
The Young Scientist Award allowed Lu to:

· Purchase a digital camera for better quality data on village traditions
· Buy another digital camera for the village committee to take year-round data
· Travel to a conference to present a research paper

Jiang Lu's research relies on large amounts of visual data, so purchasing a good quality digital camera was a crucial contribution to her research. She also bought an additional camera for the village committee, and trained one villager to master it. This will allow the collection of data on daily life and important events in the village during the time when the research team is not there, providing year-round coverage that will broaden Lu's research. The award also provided for Lu to travel to and attend the annual conference of Interior Design Educators Council in March 2006, where she will present a paper on her findings.

Publications and Papers
Pending

Quotes
"This award made me think about our research in the global context. Instead of focusing on the preservation of the cultural tradition of a small village, I realized that we could see global significance in the sustainable lifestyle of the villagers. Our first research paper is about the cave dwellings as good examples of sustainable design, inspiring people on a global scale."

"Now I understand how important my work is to our society. I also understand what our volunteers really like to be involved in, providing some guidelines for my future projects."