Russian scientists visit campus

Arlene Mand used to think three weeks was a long time. Her perspective has changed radically during the past month, as she and two Geology professors worked feverishly to plan and obtain federal funding for an on-campus geographic information systems conference involving 28 Russian environmental scientists. The program, which began yesterday, will continue until Nov. 11. According to Geology Professor Robert Giegengack, who serves as director of the University's Institute for Environmental Studies, the Russians attending the conference hail from the Tyumen region of Western Siberia, where environmental problems often arise. Giegengack attributes many of these problems to the interaction of cold temperatures and the tapping and transfer of underground oil deposits. The group will travel with two interpreters and two administrators from the United States Geological Survey, he said. Prior to coming to the University yesterday, conference participants spent a week studying at the University of Georgia. Mand, Giegengack's assistant at IES, said she has high hopes for the conference, since its scope has been expanded to encompass issues related to biodiversity and ecosystems, in addition to geographic information systems. "[The Russians] want as much information as they can absorb, and they even want the stuff they can't absorb," she said. Giegengack said although IES personnel and Geology faculty members were "scrambling" to pull the loose ends of their proposal together, the upcoming conference should be both fun and informative. "We have a lot of interest in various research projects that would be cooperative with various people in Russia, so this [program] will further cement that connection," Giegengack said. Mand agreed, saying that a faculty exchange is "entirely very possible" following the conference. "There are lots of Russians to meet and collaborate with," she said. "This is a jumping-off point." Giegengack cautioned, however, that while the visiting scientists are "accomplished and established in Russia," with most possessing the equivalent of an American doctorate, they are primarily active there as government regulators, not academics. Geology Department Chairperson Hermann Pfefferkorn said he thinks the conference will be beneficial for both the University and the visiting Russian scholars, because each group can learn from the other. "This is a great opportunity for transfer of technology between different cultures, an exchange of ideas from which we will profit in terms of broadening our horizons," he said. And because the scientists will be returning to the same area of Siberia, they can work collectively to adapt applicable Americans approaches to situations they encounter at home, Pfefferkorn added. The conference will be staffed by faculty members from five of the University's schools and nearby Drexel University, along with environmental consultants and government administrators based in Philadelphia. Industrial sites, such as the Sunoco oil refinery near the Philadelphia International Airport and a now-defunct plant in Piscataway, N.J., will constitute the conference participants' laboratory.