SHERMAN, TEXAS--Austin College biology faculty Wayne Meyer and Kim Snipes will present “Central Asia: Cultural Crossroads and Ecological Convergence” Tuesday, October 29, at 4:30 p.m. in IDEA Center, Room 127. The lecture, sponsored by the Robert and Joyce Johnson Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in Teaching, is free and open to the public.
Meyer and Snipes traveled to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in May 2013 to begin a three-week exploration of the natural and cultural history of the region. "In three weeks we only scratched the surface of the biological diversity of this region,” Snipes said. “The human history is a saga of city states, empires, nomads, and traders that has in some ways changed little in a thousand years, but in other ways the countries are in a metamorphosis to something undreamed of 25 years ago."
Primary research interests for Meyer and Snipes involve bird species surveys so they were particularly interested in identifying birds and recorded mammal, lizard, and insect species as possible. Government restrictions prohibit the casual traveler; Meyer and Snipes had to receive an official invitation from local guide companies to obtain visas. In Uzbekistan, the team was with an ornithologist working for the national biological service. They documented between 300 and 400 animal species during their travel.
“This region has fascinated me since I read an article about the Tien Shan Mountains being the origin of apples—a mountain forest dominated by fruit trees rather than conifers or hardwoods with nuts,” Snipes said. “The mountains are the borders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and China—and home of the largest population of Snow Leopards left in the world. The Cold War kept development down, so wildlife has had a chance to hang on longer in Central Asia than in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan (where wars do no favors to wildlife). I also have always wanted to see the famous Steppes of Central Asia. With the oil boom in Kazakhstan and the changing political situation all over Central Asia, Wayne and I wanted to see Central Asia before too much of its native wildlife and wild places disappeared. The allure of actually seeing the cities of the Silk Road that we had read about in history articles and novels was also a huge factor in our decision to join the expedition.”
“Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have been meeting places for people and ecosystems for centuries,” Meyer said. ”The two countries cover an area the size of the ‘Lower 48’ west of the Mississippi River and share many biological similarities with the Western United States.”
“The big conclusion I reached on the first day in the Kazakhstani steppes was that it was just like the short grass prairie of the Southern Great Plains,” Snipes said. “We had flown half way around the world to see grasslands just like home. This is a prime example of ecological convergence—when the geology, climate, and topology (nonliving factors) are the same, then the living species look the same because they are filling the same ecological niche in a similar habitat. The convergence was there in every habitat we visited: desert, mountains, grasslands, riparian forests, etc. The foothills of the Tien Shan look just like the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. The great agricultural valley of Uzbekistan is just like the Central Valley of California, but with donkeys doing the work instead of tractors.”
Snipes said the countries are “on a wild race” to develop natural resources into financial assets and anticipates that the next decade the wildlife and wild lands will change tremendously so it is necessary to document the area before that happens. The region also is showing signs of climate change, she said, with changes in snowfall and snow pack as well as longer, drier summers.
Snipes said she loved the visit and already is working toward a return trip in 2015 to search for Snow Leopards.
Austin College’s Robert and Joyce Johnson Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in Teaching, is directed by Bernice Melvin, Margaret Root Brown Chair of Foreign Languages and Literatures and professor of French. Within the mission of the center is the encouragement of ‘bold exploration of intellectual frontiers” and “fostering lively intellectual dialogue within and across academic disciplines.”
The Johnson Center schedules a number of events throughout the year, with presentations by Austin College faculty and guest lecturers.
Austin College is a leading national independent liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Founded in 1849, making it the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original charter and name, the College is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Recognized nationally for academic excellence in the areas of international education, pre-professional training, and leadership studies, Austin College is one of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives.