The 2011 Annual Conference of the China Society on Tibetan Plateau (CSTP) kicked off in Sanya, Hainan Province during November 29-30, 2011. Themed with “Multi-spherical Interactions on the Tibetan Plateau and Their Effects on Natural Resources and Environment”, the annual conference gathered over 150 participants from various institutions, universities and organizations throughout China.

CAS members, Profs LI Jijun and ZHENG Du, delivered speeches at the opening ceremony, highlighting the importance of timely reviews and academic exchanges with the rapid development of China’s Tibetan Plateau research. They also emphasized the significance of multi-disciplinary research and young talents cultivation. CAS member, Prof. SUN Honglie, announced the decision for awarding 10 researchers with “The Eighth Youth Scientific and Technological Award of CSTP”. Prof. YAO Tandong, now chairman of the CSTP, presided over the opening ceremony, which also witnessed an invited talk by Prof. QIN Dahe on progresses of the latest IPCC reports.

 

Winners of the Eighth Youth Scientific and Technological Award: BAI Hongjun, CHEN Yun, DUAN Anmin, FU Xiugen, NIE Zhen, SHI Hong, WANG Zhi, WU Guangjian, ZHOU Zhisheng, and Zhuoga

Presentations from various aspects in the Tibetan plateau research were made during the plenary session, reviewing the achievement by the international programs JICA/Tibet, sharing latest understanding of the Plateau tectonics and its implication to natural resources, and updating on recent study of climate changes and ecological responses.

The plenary session was followed by group-discussions evolving around such aspects as tectonic structures of the Plateau, geological hazards, land-air interactions, atmospheric environment, glacier-lake modern processes, paleoclimate reconstructions, ecological responses to climate changes and related control experiments, adaptations to climate changes and anthropogenic impacts.

The conference witnessed deepened understanding of the Tibetan Plateau tectonics and its uplift, and updated the spatial and temporal features of land surface processes and environmental changes. It also touched upon ecosystem changes and their impacts on environment and anthropogenic activities. Multi-disciplinary approaches were widely approved and to be promoted in futureTibetan Plateau research in China.