Chuanlun Zhang, a professor of marine sciences in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, received $145,171 from the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for International Research and Education, or PIRE, program. Working in conjunction with researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, this award will help expand an existing collaboration between U.S. and Chinese geobiologists that focuses on the microbial diversity, biogeography and ecosystem-level functioning within geothermal source pools in the largest hot spring complex in China, the Tengchong Geothermal Field in Yunnan Province. The project will provide U.S. students and scientists with a unique opportunity to experience the biologically, geologically and culturally diverse regions in southwestern China.
