On December 20, the 2017 National Forestry Discipline Top Ten Award Ceremony was held at Shandong Agricultural University. Lian Bolin, Ph.D. candidate of the Forest Plant Ecology Laboratory, a Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, won the honor of “National Forestry Discipline Top Ten Graduate (Graduate Group)”; Ha Hongzhu from the College of Landscape Architecture won the same honor for the undergraduate group; Wei Xin and 10 other students won the honor of “the National Forestry Discipline Outstanding Graduates”; Wang Jinlin, director of Employment Office of the Graduate School, won the “Outstanding Organization Individual Award.” Peng Yuandong, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, and Hao Yujun, deputy director of the Personnel Department of the State Forestry Administration, presented trophies and certificates to Lian Bolin and Ha Hongzhu.

Through the procedure of individual declaration, institution recommendation, committee review, WeChat voting, and expert comprehensive evaluation, 414 official candidates from 43 participating units were identified, and finally 10 winners were voted for each group as the “Top Ten Graduates" for the graduate group, the undergraduate group and the vocational group, and the top 40 vote winners from each group were recognized as “Outstanding Graduates”.

The voting for the “2017 National Forestry Discipline Top Ten Award” started last June and lasted for seven months. With the Graduate Career Guidance Center and the Graduate School’s careful screening and timely declaration, two students ultimately won the awards.

The “North American Maple Cup” National Forestry Discipline Top Ten Graduates activity was jointly held by the China Forestry Education Society and the State Forestry Administration Center for Personnel Development and Exchange. The activity began in 2010, and has been successfully held 7 times. Each year, more than 300 forestry related institutions, and more than 80,000 graduates are involved. The aim of the activity is to implement the strategy of strengthening forestry, giving special attention to the role of outstanding students as role models in order to inspire and guide students to learn about forestry, to join modern forestry construction with enthusiasm, to promote the professional development of forestry enterprises and institutions, and to further promote the employment work of graduates. This activity has been highly recognized by the majority forestry-related institutions and forestry students, and it has achieved good social response.