Activity Report of Open Application Course vol.40
Education and training of youngsters from seven 7 Asian countries
- Bioresources Environmental Studies Introductory Course - Diversity of Research Fields in Asia – 2nd Year
Report from the University of Tokyo
In Asia where population increase and economic growth continues, the risk of environmental destruction is constantly high, and it is important to build environment restoration technology and environmentally conscious biological production technology based on diversity of the environment such as forest, agricultural land, coastal area, etc. For the talented Asian youth who is interested in such problems, a program was conducted with the focus on Asian Natural Environment Science Center (ANESC) at the University of Tokyo, as a Science and technology experience course A of the SAKURA Exchange Program in Science, from October 14th to 23rd, 2017. The aim of the program was to introduce the forefront of bioresource environmental studies, deepen the understanding of sustainable Asian development, provide motivation for specialized research, and to create an occasion for interaction among the participants.
Ten young researchers and graduate students (5 men, 5 women), with a strong desire for learning, participated in this program. They came from 8 institutions in 7 Asian countries, namely Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (India), Research Center for Oceanography, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (Indonesia), Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), Nanjing Agricultural University (China), Tribhuvan University (Nepal), Vietnam National Agricultural University (Vietnam), University of Malaya (Malaysia), and Malaysian University of Sabah (Malaysia).
As part of the program, they visited the ANESC laboratory and listened to a description of 4 research programs (Environmental remediation program, Global environmental problem countermeasure program, Sustainable regional resource utilization program, and Useful genetic resources development program)
resistance mechanism of Asian trees in the
environmental control greenhouse
the Asian coastal ecosystem
In addition, they received guidance from the International exchange office on the explanation of the status of international exchanges at the University of Tokyo, and the method for studying abroad at the Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
exchange on future research from the
International exchange office
Next, they visited three attached facilities of the Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo. They received lectures on the changes and characteristics of forest resources of Japan, and the role of forests used for research, and observed various trees and nursery gardens.
At the Institute for Sustainable Agro-ecosystem Services, they visited the hydroponic cultivation of strawberries and lettuce, persimmon cultivation, farm museums, soybean observation and system selection using UAVs, and large agricultural machinery.
soybeans
At the Fuji Iyashinomori Woodland Study Center, they attended a special seminar on regional traditional knowledge, and observed the beautiful autumn leaves wet with rain in the forest ecosystem at the base of Mt. Fuji. They visited the lecture room, and a resting place made using wood and containing a wood stove. They also visited the wilderness vegetation transition test site for recovery of vegetation and ecology of mycorrhiza at the Mt. Fuji volcano.
They also participated in graduate exercises, introduced their studies and research, while having discussions with overseas doctoral students and Japanese teaching assistants, about various aspects of sustainable agriculture, forestry, fishery and livestock industry, and about the role of university affiliated facilities, and deepened the exchanges.
mock exercises with the University of Tokyo
graduate students and Teaching assistants
The motivation for re-enrollment in the overseas studies and plans for future research was enhanced, and the exchange among the participants was deepened via a condensed program by living at the same place. It is expected that the exchange between the ANESC members and participants, and the exchange between the participants will continue in the future through Facebook, etc.