Prof. Ding He, Assistant Professor of the Department of Ocean Science, has been awarded the Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau) from National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2022.
The award winning project:
Project Title: Organic Geochemistry of Estuaries and Coasts
Carbon cycle is one of the most important topics in global change research. Estuaries and coasts, linking land and ocean, play a critical role in the global carbon cycle, but traditional methods cannot resolve the carbon source/sink processes. Based on molecular biomarkers, stable isotopes, ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry, and big-data techniques, Dr HE focuses on the organic carbon (OC) cycling in estuaries and coasts. In particular, he determined the OC sources, biogeochemical processes, and the underlying controlling factors during the Anthropocene and published over 50 manuscripts in international journals. This year, supported by the Excellent Young Scientist Scheme of National the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), he is going to further explore the mystery of OC cycling in estuaries and coasts. Specifically, he aims to reveal the OC burial process, carbon sequestration capacity and control factors from the molecular level, serving the national and Hong Kong government’s carbon peak, and carbon neutral policy needs.
NSFC Excellent Young Scientist (EYS) Scheme offers support to young academics (under the age of 38 for male or 40 for female) who obtained good achievements in basic research, encourage them to focus on self-chosen area for innovative research. It aims to facilitate a rapid development of young talents in scientific technology and nurture a group of outstanding academic talents entering into the forefront of international technology. The selected scholars will each receive RMB 2 million to support their research in Hong Kong for a period of 3 years.
