Yunnan University supports ecology internship

Guests at the seminar pose for a group photo at Yunnan University on May 18. [Photo/ynu.edu.cn]

The First Seminar of the National University Ecology Internship Alliance was held on May 18-19 at Yunnan University, or YNU – based in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province – with over 60 key teachers and department heads from the ecology departments of 35 universities across the country attending the conference.

Among those delivering keynote speeches was Wang Zhiheng, vice dean of the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University. Also speaking was Zhang Zhiming, vice dean of the School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences at YNU.

Their talks were entitled, respectively, the "Organization and Operation Mechanism of the Internship Alliance" and the "Operation Mechanism of Joint Summer Internships for National Universities".

The seminar focused on the issues of the internship alliance's work and its operating mechanisms, with discussions taking place on the organizational structure of the alliance, joint internships and the regular holding of seminars and collective activities.

Later, the participants visited the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden Yuanjiang Dry-Hot Valley Ecological Station, an ecology field internship base at Yunnan University, for an on-site inspection.

They conducted detailed investigations into the dry-hot valley ecosystem, vegetation communities, the composition of species and the infrastructure of research platforms – discussing the details of sending teachers and students for joint internships there.

The National University Ecology Field Internship Alliance was jointly initiated by the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University and the School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences at Yunnan University and it was officially established in November 2023.

The alliance operates with the support of the Ministry of Education's Ecology Course Field Internship Virtual Research Office at Yunnan University.

The conference was the first on-site seminar held by the alliance – promoting exchanges among member institutions and laying the foundation for cooperation within its ranks in the future.