Bian Wang (China) is a Ph.D. candidate in earth and environmental sciences studying the paleoecology of extinct mammals and the effect of landscape history on mammal diversity over broad geographic regions and timescales. Her dissertation focuses on fossil ungulates (hoofed mammals) from the Intermountain West and the Great Plains through an interval of climate change approximately 16 million years ago, when ungulate diversity in North America was much higher than today. Through reconstructing the paleoecology of these plant-eating mammals, Bian investigates how species respond to changes in climate, topography, and vegetation in the history of Earth. (China) is a Ph.D. candidate in earth and environmental sciences studying the paleoecology of extinct mammals and the effect of landscape history on mammal diversity over broad geographic regions and timescales. Her dissertation focuses on fossil ungulates (hoofed mammals) from the Intermountain West and the Great Plains through an interval of climate change approximately 16 million years ago, when ungulate diversity in North America was much higher than today. Through reconstructing the paleoecology of these plant-eating mammals, Bian investigates how species respond to changes in climate, topography, and vegetation in the history of Earth.

 

The Barbour Scholarship is one of the oldest and most prestigious awards granted by the University of Michigan. It offers funding for female students of the highest academic and professional caliber from Asia and Middle East to study academic disciplines critical to the development of their native lands.