Description

Expedition Summary
Explore the lives of unique grassland animals, from lesser kestrels to Siberian ibex, to help Earthwatch conserve their wilderness home.

Expedition Details
Your team will enjoy an extraordinary perspective of the desert-steppe environment in central Asia, as well as visits with local herders for a unique cultural experience. You will work with a well-trained research staff to observe the ecology and movements of a diversity of grassland animals. In addition to argali sheep, you will help explore the ecology of Siberian ibex, mountain goats with scimitar-shaped horns, and cinereous vultures, the largest raptors in Eurasia. You will also study the lives of globally threatened lesser kestrels, two species of hedgehogs, and prey species, from lizards to steppe rat snakes (aka Dione rat snakes or Pallas's colubers), to leaping jerboas. (Volunteers who prefer not to work with the snakes will have plenty of other ways to keep busy on other aspects of the research.)

In your recreational time you will be free to explore this wilderness landscape in a way few people ever can, and you will also have the opportunity to experience Mongolian culture in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. This project requires a reasonably good fitness level due to its active nature and the remoteness of the location, and familiarity with hiking and camping.

Meals and Accommodations
Team members share quarters in traditional Mongolian gers, cozy and colorful oases from the vast steppe, or in smaller camping tents. A cook will prepare meals (with your help serving and cleaning up), a mixture of familiar and local fare, including Mongolian "barbecue" cooked with hot rocks. The field camp includes sun showers, solar-powered lights, and outhouses with pit toilets. You will travel to the field site by train and four-wheel-drive van from Ulaanbaatar, a spectacularly scenic ride.

About the Research Area
Ikh Nart was established in 1996 to protect 164,566 acres of rocky outcrops in a region of northwestern Dornogobi Aimag, known as Ikh Nartiin Chuluu. At about 4,000 feet above sea level, the region is a high upland covered by semi-arid steppe vegetation. Permanent cold-water springs are available in some of the several shallow valleys draining the reserve.

The flora and fauna present in the research area are a mix of desert and steppe species. Vegetation is sparse, with shrubs, scrub vegetation, and turfy grasses dominating. Different plant communities can be found around oases and streams, on rocky outcrops, and in other areas.

Large mammals in the region include argali, ibex, goitered gazelles, Mongolian gazelles, Asian wild asses, and wolves, several of which are locally or globally threatened. Common birds include cinereous vultures, saker falcons, steppe eagles, upland hawks, black kites, little owls, pied wheatears, white wagtails, horned larks, Guldenstadts redstarts, red-billed choughs, and Daurian partridges. Of the many small mammals and reptiles, volunteers may see Tolai hares, Pallas cats, red foxes, corsac foxes, Mongolian gerbils, voles, hamsters, jerboas, toad-headed agamas, Mongolian racerunners, Central Asian vipers, and Pallas colubers.

Highlights

You will work with an international team of scientists, including Sukhiin Amgalanbaatar (Mongolian Academy of Sciences), Ganchimeg Wingard (Denver Zoological Foundation), Jed Murdoch (Oxford University), and Dr. Richard Reading. Depending on your team, you will help capture ibex, argali, or small carnivores, and chart their movements using radiotelemetry. You will also make behavioral observations of individual ibex and argali, and collect vegetation and carnivore scat samples. Some of your time will be devoted to monitoring the nest success of cinereous vultures and lesser kestrels, conducting transect surveys for mammals and lizards, and using trapping grids to capture small mammals. You will enjoy an extraordinary perspective of the central Asian semiarid steppe environment, as well as visits with local herders for a unique cultural experience.

Travel Types

• Camping
• Eco Tours
• Ecology
• Hiking
• Nature Tours
• Volunteering
• Environmental Studies
• Photography
• Tours

Qualifications

No experience is necessary - all you will need is enthusiasm and the desire to make a difference. For over 40 years Earthwatch Institute has pioneered the involvement of ordinary people in peer-reviewed scientific research worldwide. By joining an Earthwatch Expedition, you have a unique opportunity to get up-close and personal with some of the world's rarest animals and visit remote and beautiful locations, while directly supporting conservation science. We offer life enhancing experiences in nearly 50 countries each year, with projects for teens, adults, and families.

Languages

• English

Cost in US$:

3,395 USD

Cost Includes:

• Emergency evacuation services
• Excursions
• Food
• Housing
• In-country orientation/Training
• In-country staff support
• Medical insurance
• Medical services
• Pre-departure orientation/Training
• Registration fees
• Written materials abroad
• Written materials pre-departure

Program Fees Include:

Our volunteers not only contribute essential funds that help to cover the cost of the research, but also, through their inspiration and effort, they provide the people power without which many of our vital projects simply couldnt take place. We are a non-profit organization but accommodation, meals, insurance, training and transport in the field are also included in your contribution cost. As a non-profit organization that supports scientific research, your contribution and airfare costs are usually tax-deductible for U.S. citizens.

Experience Required

no

Volunteer Types

Typical Volunteer

Earthwatch expeditions appeal to a variety of people, including students, retirees, families, educators, and anyone seeking an exciting journey that enables them to give back to the environment. Our expeditions have a wide range of activity levels, from hiking intensive to easy expeditions with limited physical activity. There is an Earthwatch expedition out there for everyone!

Age Range

Adult (age 18-90) teams available.

This Program is open to

Worldwide, American, Asian, Australian, Canadian, European, Kiwi and South African Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals.

Typical Living Arrangements

• Group living
• Other

Participants Travel

Independently

Typically Participants Work

in Groups of 2-8

Scholarships are Available

Very limited fellowships may be available, mainly for high-school students and educators. Visit our website for more information.

Application Process Involves

• Other
• Phone/Video Interview
• Physical Exam/Health Records
• Written Application

Typically The Application Process Time is

Brief

Earthwatch Institute's Mission Statement

Our mission is to inspire connections between people and the environment by engaging them in worldwide scientific field research and education. These efforts will promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment. Earthwatch enables scientists to pursue research goals and members of the public to gain hands-on experience with science. We believe it is essential that people participate in solving the environmental challenges we face.

Year Founded

1971