Report for
Opportunity for International Educational Experience
at St. Petersburg State University,
St. Petersburg, Russia

submitted by
J. David Archibald
Professor, Department of Biology
18 October 2000

From 4-25 August, 2000 I was in St. Petersburg, Russia, which was partially funded by SDSU through the "Opportunity for International Educational Experience" as well as by one of my external grants (NSF). The purpose was to continue contacts with colleagues and students at the Department of Vertebrate Zoology, St. Petersburg State University and at the Institute of Zoology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia.

A great part of this time was spent with my host, Dr. Alexander Averianov, completing four manuscripts on 85 million year old mammals we have been collecting from Uzbekistan. The only parts that are lacking are finished photographs. One of these papers was co-authored by one of my graduate students (K. Randall):

Archibald, J. D. and Averianov, A. O. The Possible Late Cretaceous Roots of Glires (Mammalia, Placentalia). 5 page ms. to submitted to Science.

Archibald, J. D. and Averianov, A. O. Daulestes and Bulaklestes (Mammalia, Eutheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Middle Asia 22 page ms. to be submitted to Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

Archibald, J. D. and Averianov, A. O. Notes on Paranyctoides and allies from the Late Cretaceous of North America and Asia. 25 page ms. to be submitted to Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

Archibald, J. D., Averianov, A. O., and Randall, K. New material, revision, and phylogenetic relationships of the Late Cretaceous mammal Kulbeckia (Eutheria, Zalambdalestidae). 48 page ms. to be submitted to the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

 We began another project on the bony or petrosal ear region of these same mammals that will be central to another of my graduate student’s (E. Ekdale) thesis: Ekdale, E., Archibald, J. D., and Averianov, A. O. The petrosal region of mammals from Dzaharakuduk, Uzbekistan, and their possible importance in early ungulate evolution. Finally, a presentation was prepared by one of the Russian graduate students for presentation at a conference in China this past summer: Danilov, I. Late Cretaceous turtles of Middle Asia. Conference on Turtles, Beijing. In addition to preparing these research papers with colleagues and students from both SDSU and St. Petersburg, I had regular meetings with mostly MS and PhD students from SPSU (St. Petersburg State University). These were discussions dealing with paleobiology.

I rate the level and amount of research we completed and the student interactions as an unequivocal success. These contacts will continue. Attempting to establish more formal avenues for possible exchange between SPSU and SDSU, however, was less successful. I am certainly willing to talk to any and all interested parties here at SDSU for possible exchanges to Russia, and then to try to develop sponsors in St. Petersburg. This is quite doable, but students would need to cover all expenses. Trying to bring students from SPSU to SDSU is another matter. Cost is the issue. I applied to the Fulbright Fellow Alumnus Award for funds (about $18,000) to bring a post doc and a Master’s student to SDSU for one semester. I was informed while in St. Petersburg that while I was a finalist, I was not granted an alumnus award. I will keep trying for funding.
 
 


Budget Report

The following budget report should for the most part be self explanatory; but a few comments are in order. The cost for shipment of specimens to England from Russia and customs fees are for materials from our work in Uzbekistan that needed to be passed along to collaborators in England. The excess baggage charge was the cost for me to bring some of these specimens back to San Diego for work by my students and myself. Under item 2, I hosted two small dinners for colleagues and students. Under item 3, I charged small expenses (e.g., wide angle lens for a digital -- $112) while my NSF grant paid the majority of such charges (e.g., digital camera -- $1,300). The budgeted categories are in bold letters, while the numbered items refer to receipts.
 
A) Expenses related to travel Budget Expenditures
1
 Roundtrip airfare from San Diego to St. Petersburg
$1,218
2
 Excess baggage
$219
3
 Shipping of specimens from Russia to England
$671
4
 Custom fees in England
$43
subtotal
$1,700
$2,151
B) Expenses related to room board
5
 Room and board for four weeks in St. Petersburg
$1,000
6
 Dinner in restaurant for four people, 14 August 
$20
7
 Dinner in "Europe" Hotel Lobby Bar for nine people, 21 August
$143
subtotal
$1,500
$1,163
C) Other expenses
8
 Funds for photo preparation
$100
9
 USB Reader for digital camera
$60
10
 Wide angle lens for digital camera
$112
11
 Pack of 10 Zip disks
$97
12
 batteries
$65
subtotal
$500
$434
totals
$3,700
$3,748

Respectfully submitted,
 
 

J. David Archibald

Professor of Biology