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Back in Dhaka
After traveling to the other side of the globe and suffering through a few sleepless nights due to jet lag, I am now settled into the fieldwork routine. I wake up at 6 a.m., eat breakfast at 6:30 a.m.,...
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Working in a rice field
Rice fields have fascinated me ever since my first trip to Asia when I was in high school. It amazes me how they dominate the landscape.Now I get to actually work in a rice field. Working in a rice...
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Hard Times
Bangladesh has gotten more expensive since the last time I was here. The cost of everything (labor, food, lodging) has increased by more than 30%. I think the main cause for this increase is the...
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Why Study a Rice Field in Bangladesh?
The shallow aquifer in Bangladesh, which provides drinking water for millions and irrigation water for numerable rice fields, is severely contaminated with naturally occurring arsenic. The arsenic...
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A Snail’s Pace
After five field visits, I should have a good sense of the time it will take me to complete certain tasks. However, I am currently four days behind the schedule that I set for myself! I have been...
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Rice Field Hydrology
My first field objective was to figure out the flow patterns of water through the rice field and to determine exactly how much rice-field water reaches the arsenic contaminated aquifer every year. To...
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SJ Saves the Day
After my slow progress and a few equipment failures (below is a picture of our currently working generator a few days ago), I was afraid that I would leave Bangladesh with many uncompleted tasks.But a...
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Water Sampling
The rice fields in Bangladesh are irrigated with groundwater that contains arsenic. At my field site, the irrigation water contains 500 ppb arsenic, which is well above the arsenic drinking water limit...
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Where Am I?
Although it is winter in Bangladesh, I expected relatively warm temperatures. The weather during the first part of my trip did not disappoint with temperatures hovering near 80 degrees Fahrenheit...
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Finished!
When Sarah Jane left Bangladesh to head back home, my husband Chris arrived. Chris’ and my original plan had been to vacation in Bangladesh. But I was not done with the water sampling, so I put Chris...
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