I'll let the photos do most of the talking for this post.
His research team spent most of their time near Erdenet, the location of a large copper mine, part of which you see here. To give perspective, the little dots you see in the photo are large trucks and other mining vehicles.
The waste water containing various toxins (heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and others) from the mining process is piped to an open pond. The toxins seep into the soil, ground water and is also carried through the air. I won't get into the history/politics of how things got this bad, but suffice it to say that efforts are being made to remedy the situation.
Here you see Craig and and team mate doing a land survey using global positioning devices and traditional surveying tools. Craig is wearing a piece of Mongolian clothing called a Del. Several of the team members had one custom made for themselves. It was a chilly day and he happened to be wearing two hats. One of the local women told him that meant he would have two wives. 
Here are some of the team members taking samples from the area that the waste water dumps into. 
In this photo Craig is doing a land survey and preparing to take some samples in an area where the local people bring their livestock to drink from the stream.
On the left is a family milking its goats and on the right is goat cheese drying in the sun.
Left - a Mongolian shepherd.....Right - traditional Mongolian homes called Gers.
Left- Hospitality inside a ger.....Right - girl coaxes baby goat to drink.
A Buddhist shrine
I'll do another post on this after Craig finishes up his research this fall on the samples they brought back from their trip. We may complain about governmental bureaucracy, but on the other hand consider where we might be without the EPA....
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This is a formal portrait several months later. Looking closely at the print, one can see that it is a black and white photograph that was hand tinted
