IRES: ASSURE 2019. I enjoyed everything: the research, the culture, and the friendship

When I graduated from UCLA in 2018 with a major in Earth and Environmental Science and minor in Chinese, I wasn't sure how I would integrate the two seemingly disparate interests. However, the past summer with IRES:ASSURE have showed me that they’re not that disparate after all.

When one of my advisors brought up ASSURE during a meeting in early January, I was intrigued by the opportunity and decided to give it a shot. Fast forward 5 months, four fellow graduate students and I set out to Jiangsu, China to work on collaborative projects in various fields from computational physics, bioinformatics to earth systems modeling while immersing ourselves in the invigorating Chinese culture. It’s been a fascinating experience with lots of learning, adapting, and growing.

Leo at Taihulight Supercomputer, Wuxi, China

The academic. My project explores the application of a Machine Learning algorithm to make streamflow prediction in river basins with different hydrometeorological characteristics. The project is both fascinating and challenging as it brings together my interest in climate and hydrology research with Machine Learning, a field that I did not have much experience in. We encountered a few hiccups at the beginning in obtaining the data, accessing the scope of the project, and bypassing the “Great Firewall” — as the local students called it — to get hold of the academic literature. Each challenge came with an opportunity for us to take advantage of the available resources and better navigate the workplace environment. With the help of Tyler, a computer science student and fellow “ASSURer”, I developed a fundamental understanding of the algorithm and was able to implement the model and produce preliminary results. We found that there is a large range in the predictive performance of the model across seasons and spatial regions. With further analysis we hope to turn the project into a paper in a hydrology or meteorology journal.

The culture. Two month is not a long time to fully understand the culture but it gave us a peek into the way of life in China. It’s difficult to put the whole experience into words. Every day was a new adventure. The recurring theme was people’s confusion about my semi-fluency in the language and mistook me as the tour guide when fellow students and I traveled together. Most of the time, I was just as lost. Ordering food was the most enthralling. We usually didn’t know what to expect, especially when there was no pictures.

China is a fast growing country with a large population, and the public transportation has been built to accommodate such demand. While our research took place in Wuxi and Shanghai, we took advantage of the extensive, efficient, and reliable bullet train system and traveled to 6 different cities on the weekends! Each has its own charm and character, and it would be difficult to pick a favorite.

Qingming Bridge, Wuxi and the quintessential canal system in Jiangnan Region

The friendship. I enjoyed getting to know four driven fellow graduate students and meeting new people during our time in China. I learned valuable insights and gained new perspective from our conversations inside and outside of work.

The dinner talks, weekend trips, and weekly Zoom check-ins are the memories that I will hold on for a long time.

I also met many warm and hospitable people that enriched my experience. It was exhilarating to listen to people’s stories and their takes on different subjects, learn more about the long and rich history of China, and simply appreciate their company.

IRES: ASSURE Fellows and Tsinghua University graduate students at the Great Wall

It was a productive summer. I was able to make progress on my research while navigating a new environment, improving my language ability, and making new friends. I’m incredibly grateful for ASSURE and look forward to similar opportunities in the future.