In the Himalayas, the researchers found native wildlife such as ibex, herds of wild asses called kiang and condors, one of the largest birds on the planet. Adding to the bucolic scene, many of the villagers who live in the foothills tend goats.



“It’s a beautiful landscape. The scale is hard to comprehend when you’re driving on a plain at 15,000 feet above sea level. That’s really high. It takes a while to acclimatize to the elevation,” Crowley said.



The night skies were full of stars in that sparsely inhabited part of India, with little moisture in the atmosphere to obscure the view. The arid mountains have little vegetation and lots of exposed strata of rock.



“It’s a geologist’s dream. UC professors in geology have been conducting research and teaching classes in this region for many years,” she said. “I am so grateful I was able to join them in the field.”



But being in the field can be challenging. The researchers had to hire an experienced driver to take them over the mountains. They used a filtration system to provide clean drinking water. In some of the low-lying areas, they had to help push their truck out of the mud.



“We’ve gotten a flat tire both times we’ve gone to India. You need nerves of steel to deal with the blind curves,” she said.



Crowley said places on the extreme edges of habitability such as the Himalayas could be the first to feel the effects of dramatic climate change. These mountain ranges provide water and nutrients for rivers in India.



“These are places that might have perennial glaciers that are important sources of water. If the glaciers disappear, that has major implications for people who rely on that water,” she said.



The samples collected for this study provide baseline data if researchers decide to revisit the topic of roadside pollution in 10 or 20 years, she said.



And given her track record of travel for UC, Crowley might be the one leading that expedition, too.



“One of the joys of being a professor is you have some freedom in the kinds of research questions you can explore,” she said. “I have appreciated that opportunity here at UC.”