Prof. Guo Huadong, Director General of the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI), Chinese Academy of Sciences, the host institute of RADI, was awarded the Gold Medal of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences (IEAS) at the recent 1st Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX) Conference, convened in Helsinki, Finland, on 10-13 February 2015. The Medal was awarded in recognition of his outstanding scientific achievements and significant contributions to the PEEX program.

Based on a joint initiative of a number of leading Finnish, Russian and Chinese research institutions, PEEX is a multidisciplinary research program aiming at studying major sustainability challenges faced by the peoples of the Pan-Eurasian region. Its focus is on global climate change and economic globalization; it aims to advance thorough studies of the problems of climate change, air quality, bio-diversity, food and energy security, etc., and achieve a better understanding, through integrated multidisciplinary research, the importance of the region in the study of earth system science.

From 10 to 13 February 2015 the First Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX) Conference, held jointly with the 5th PEEX Meeting, was hosted by the University of Helsinki. The event brought together delegates from 12 organizations including RADI, the Institute for Scientific Research of Aerospace Monitoring, Russia, the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences (IEAS), Integrated Land Ecosystem-Atmosphere Processes Study (iLEAPS), and the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) as co-hosts. Attended by more than 170 experts from 15 countries including Finland, Russia, China, the United States, Italy, Germany and Norway, the conference sought to build a wider platform for scientists to carry out collaborative research on sustainable development in the Pan-Eurasian region, in the framework of earth system science.

Prof. Guo delivered a keynote report entitled “Earth Observation for the Environmental Studies on the Silk Road Economic Belt” which emphasized how environmental studies can be supported by advanced space technology applications, notably in monitoring the earth’s ecological system, land, snow cover, natural & cultural heritage, global environmental change, etc. The Second PEEX Science Conference/ the Sixth PEEX Meeting will be hosted by RADI in Beijing from 18 to 20 May 2016.

Adapted from RADI news (http://english.radi.cas.cn/News/NU/201503/t20150309_144992.html)