Fang’s anti-desertification innovation was informed by a 2015 Princeton University research study that suggested that the large dirt mounds created by termites are crucial to stopping the spread of deserts into semi-arid ecosystems and agricultural lands. The study found that termite mounds in the parched grasslands and savannas of Africa, South America and Asia store nutrients and moisture, with internal tunnels in the mounds allowing water to better penetrate the soil. This provides a moist refuge for vegetation in the vicinity of the mounds to thrive and slow the spread of deserts into drylands.