Ishinca Summary The American Climber Science Program - Peru expedition to the Ishinca valley over the past twelve days was very productive. Ten climber and scientist volunteers comprised the first cohort of the 2013 Cordillera Blanca expeditions, representing numerous universities and institutions. For the most part, this team will be in Peru all summer with the ACSP as we continue our work and so our first efforts were to collect baseline data and train everyone in mountain safety. Our research efforts included collecting vegetation data for studies on climate change, grazing, and fire impacts in the range; placing an atmospheric dust experiment at 5100 meters for retrival later this summer; collecting and filtering over twenty snow samples on three mountains surrounding the valley; and delineating the location of water bodies and springs across the valley in preparation for later water quality monitoring on our return to Ishinca. Team members whose ages ranged from 19 to 72 years old summited mountains including Urus Este (5495 m) and Ishinca (5530 m). For our next expedition to the Cayesh valley, we are being joined by Peruvian graduate students from La Molina University in Lima who will be studying the impact of grazing on mountain wetland ecosystems. Plus, we have new teams from Colorado State and Western Washington Universities joining our efforts. The ACSP-Peru research program diversity will continue to expand throughout the season as more scientists and climbers join us. For information, extensive photos and stories, please see our blog (mountainscience.org) and webpage (climberscience).
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 21:55:04 +0000
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