Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Oct. 17, 2017, edition 1 / Page 10
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4.- f -&■ c ^■i 'mm ^mKS Environmental Studies Associate Professor David Gillette conducts research on the effects of climate change on Nepalese river systems. David Gillette shares moments of his travels to Nepal KATIE WALKER A&F Staff Writer kwalker6@unca.edu The temperature in Nepal rose to over 100 degrees, public transpor tation was down due to strikes. De hydrated from walking five hours each way to and from a village, David Gillette felt a sense of relief when he reached the main road. Before making his trip to the vil lage, Gillette forgot to pack iodine drops used to purify the water from hand pumps. By the time he reached the main road back to where he was staying, Gillette felt as if he was go ing to pass out. “I remember they were selling bottles of Sprite, I remember dis tinctly it was so cold it was almost slush,” Gillette said. “I will always remember drinking that Sprite.” Before coming to UNC Ashe ville, Gillette traveled to Nepal as a member of the Peace Corps in 1995 and worked to improve fisheries in 'in Moorhead local villages. He spent two years working with fish farmers and an other year evaluating the impact the Peace Corps had on the area. Gillette was accepted into the en vironmental studies department at UNCA in fall of 2008 as an associ ate professor. Irene Rossell, professor and chair of the department of enviromental studies, said the team who first in terviewed Gillette knew right away he was someone they wanted. She remembers interviewing Gillette and thinking he was a great person based on his answers to each ques tion. “All the questions we asked him, he was very thoughtful, articulate and just gave such great answers to our questions,” Rossell said. Since coming to work at UNCA, Gillette formed a good relationship with his students and colleagues. Kevin Moorhead, environmental studies professor, said Gillette is a great guy to work with and talk to. “He is hard to rattle, very lev el-headed and very calm,” Moor head said. “Because of that calm ness, I think that blends well with interaction with students.” Gillette and Moorhead co-taught a class together three years ago called Environmental Restoration. Because of their overlapping re search and fields of study, Gillette being a river expert and Moorhead being a wetland expert, the two worked well together. After receiving research grants from the Fulbright Foundation, Na tional Geographic and World Wild life Fund, Gillette returned to Nepal in 2015 to conduct research on the effects of climate change on river systems. The project also looked at information gathered from previous studies conducted in the area during the ‘80s and ‘90s. The Kali Gandaki River, located in central Nepal, served as the focus of Gillette’s studies. Starting at the Tibetan Plateau, the Kali Gandaki flows down through the Himalayas to northern India. “What is interesting, is just like the French Broad River here, which was flowing before the Appala chian Mountains rose, that river was flowing before the Himalayas arose,” Gillette said. Through his research Gillette CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
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