On Oct. 24 - 27, 2016, The International Union of Forestry Research Organization (IUFRO)-Regional Congress for Asia and Oceania 2016 was held in Beijing. IUFRO-AO2016 was jointly sponsored by IUFRO and the Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF), co-sponsored by the Chinese Society of Forestry (CSF), and the State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding (SKLTGB) of NEFU. President Yang Chuanping led the NEFU team to attend the Congress and on Oct. 26 co-chaired the scientific session of the Role of Genetics and Physiology in Forestry Sustainable Management at the 4th Forest Science Forum. 15 teachers and graduate students from NEFU submitted academic papers and posters to the Congress. Among them, 2 teachers and 2 doctoral candidates gave academic presentations at the scientific sessions. TheJournal of Forestry Research (English version) was displayed on booth in the main venue and gained broad attention.
Luo Fuhe, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC and Vice Chairman of the Central Standing Committee of China Association for Promoting Democracy, and Peng Youdong, Deputy Director of the State Forestry Administration attended the opening ceremony and gave speeches. The opening ceremony had more than 1200 people consisting of about 800 official representatives and 400 unofficial participants from the research institutions, colleges and universities, government departments, non-governmental organizations and enterprises from over 60 countries.
During the Congress, nearly 100 scientific sessions were held, with 500 academic presentations, 200 posters and 30 standard booths for the publicity of 24 domestic and foreign organizations. 15 teachers and graduate students from NEFU submitted academic papers and posters to the Congress. Prof. Sun Long, College of Forestry, NEFU, gave a presentation in the scientific session on the Impacts of Changing Climate and Atmospheric Deposition on Forest Ecosystem Structure, Function and Management. Huan Siqi and Ni Xiaohui, doctoral candidates from the College of Material Science and Engineering, NEFU, gave presentations in the scientific session on Nanotechology for Biobased Materials. Sun Hongzhi, Director of Development Planning and Discipline Construction Office, NEFU, gave a presentation in the scientific session about Forest Education in a Changing Environment. An exhibition booth was set up to publicize theJournal of Forestry Research, the first journal indexed by SCIE in the field of forestry science in China, which attracted wide attention of the international participants. Peng Youdong, Deputy Director of the State Forestry Administration, Zhao Shucong, Director-General of Chinese Society of Forestry, and Michael Wingfield, President of IUFRO, all visited our booth and were highly complimentary of the journal.
During the Congress, President Yang Chuanping was invited to attend the reception for alumni and intercollegiate cooperation held by UBC, Canada, and held discussions with Prof. John Innes, Dean of the Faculty of Forestry, and Prof. Wang Guangyu, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Forestry, UBC, on the cultivation of undergraduates, graduate students and young teachers, as well as the international cooperation of research projects, and agreed on further cooperation and communication. President Yang has also met with Prof. Terry Sharik, Dean of the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, USA. They exchanged views on the training of undergraduate and graduate students, exchange students and the cooperation and communication of young teachers, etc, and agreed to further discuss the details of inter-school cooperation and agreement signing in May next year at NEFU.
President Yang has also talked with Liu Shirong, Director of the NEFU Board and Vice President of Chinese Academy of Forestry, and our school alumnus Prof. Wang Jingxin, Virginia University, USA, on the cooperation between NEFU and other universities and research institutions at home and abroad.
