On January 3, 2016, the 2015 Academic Seminar on "Ecological Water Diversion Project in the Heihe River Basin" (Heihe Program) under the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), was held at South University of Science and Technology of China (SUSTech). Present were 10 experts and scholars includingAcademician Cheng Guodong, Head of the expert group of Heihe Program and Academician Fu Bojie, Kang Shaozhong and Xia Jun, members of the group, as well as leaders including Deputy Director Song Changqing and Chief Leng Shuying of the Department of Earth Sciences, NSFC. Among other attendees were project leaders and key staff from renowned domestic universities and research institutions such as SUSTech, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, and Institute of Remote Sensing Applications,Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Forestry University and Beijing Normal University.

 
Song Changqing, Deputy Director of the Department of Earth Sciences, NSFC, delivered a welcome speech

At the opening ceremony, Chen Shiyi, President of SUSTech, extended warm welcome to the attendees on behalf of the organizer SUSTech. He spoke highly of the major progress and scientific significance of "Heihe Program", thanked the experts for their cordial direction and support to the projects under this program, and introduced SUSTech's near-term disciplinary development plan. His speech received warm response from the attendees. Following his speech, Cheng delivered a speech as the head of the expert group of "Heihe Program". He gave a brief reply on the progress of this program, and underlined the importance of next-stage integrated research. Hot on the heels of the brief opening ceremony were project presentations and exchanges.The leaders of the integrated projects, key supported projects and key cultivated projects made presentations on research objectives, key scientific issues, research progress, existing problems and next-year research plans, answering questions and soliciting suggestions from other attendees.

 
Chen Shiyi, President of SUSTech, delivered a welcome speech

 
Cheng Guodong, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Head of the expert group of Heihe Program, delivered a speech

"Heihe Program" has made great progress and innovative achievements to date. In the future, all research groups will continue to cement mutual exchanges and discuss keybasin-related scientific issues in depth, so as to achieve more breakthroughs and high-level academic research results. The three-day seminar created a premium exchange opportunity for ecological and hydrological experts and scholars, and enabled the outside world to look at fast-growing SUSTech at close range. The School of Environmental Science and Engineering, SUSTech will fully employ its role of bridge to pool the wisdom of global environmental experts to solve China's "water" program.

Background: With China's Heihe River Basin as the typical research target, from a systematic perspective, the "Ecological Water Diversion Project in the Heihe River Basin" will establish a scientific observation, experiment, data and simulation research platform for China's inland water basins, recognize the process and mechanism of the interaction between the ecosystem and hydrological system of the inland water basin ecosystem, build a model of basin eco-hydrological process and a decision support system for water resource management, improve the capacity for the comprehensive analysis, prediction and forecast of the systematic evolution of inland water basins from water to ecology and to economy, and provide basic theories and technological support for the water security, ecological security and economic sustainability of China's inland water basins.

With the aim of becoming a world top environmental education and research base, the School of Environmental Science and Engineering, SUSTech ("Environmental School") is committed to cultivating versatile environmental talents with innovative thinking, international vision and modern engineering qualities. So far the school has recruited 14 experts, including those among "1,000 Talents Program", "10,000 Talents Program", "Distinguished Youths" and "Outstanding Youths". Zheng Chunmiao, Dean of the School of Environmental Science and Engineering, SUSTech, is the leader of the "Research on the System Behavior and Regulation of Eco-hydrological Process in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Heihe River Basin", an integrated project under "Heihe Program".