From July 8 to 18, 2019, the27thInternational Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) General Assembly was grandly held in International Convention Center Montreal in Canada. Nearly 5,000 representatives from more than 100 countries and regions attended this grand academic gathering. The affiliated associations to IUGG include International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS), International Association of Geodesy (IAG) and International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA), all of which have independently or jointly organized over one hundred symposiums and seminars. Professor Xu Zongxue, Vice Chairman of CNC-IAHS and Vice Chairman of ICWRS, attended the conference. Hundreds of insiders of domestic geoscience circle engaged in this grand gathering. Chinese representatives involving in IAHS are of great number. Zhang Jianyun, former Chairman of CNC-IAHS and Academician of Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Liu Zhiyu, incumbent Chairman of CNC-IAHS and Director of Hydrological Forecast Center, Ministry of Water Resources P.R.China, Xia Jun, Academician of Wuhan University, and over ten leaders and experts from organizations like Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China, Beijing Normal University, Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, Hohai University, Sun Yat-sen University, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute and Chinese Academy of Sciences participated in the relevant academic exchange meetings of IAHS.
Part of experts in Chinese hydrology circle attending the IUGG General Assembly take a group photo
During the IUGG General Assembly, Professor Xu Zongxue was additionally invited to deliver two academic reports respectively titled "How does the sponge city facilities work: A numerical experiment in the sponge city construction demonstration area in Jinan City" and "Impact of climate change on glacier mass balance in the Tibetan Plateau during 1975-2013" apart from attending the council and working conferences of IAHS and ICWRS in succession, as well as co-chairing the parallel session of ICWRS themed "Comparative inventories of water resources systems and their functioning - Methodology and tools for their assessment, protection and efficient use".
Professor Xu Zongxue is making the report
On the afternoon of July 9, IAHS held the quadrennial general election, which was co-chaired by Günter Blöschl, Chairman of IAHS and Professor of Vienna University of Technology and Professor Christophe Cudennec, Secretary General of IAHS. Except for countries failing to pay for the membership dues within the time limit, 48 countries including China have been empowered the effective voting right. After verifying the list of representatives of the national committees, Secretary General Cudennec personally issued the ballot tickets to representatives of countries concerned. The voting and counting lasting for more than one hour has given results of the new list of council members including Chairman and Vice Chairman of IAHS. On the basis of joint recommendation of ICWRS and CNC, Professor Xu Zongxue of our college, also Director of Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Water Cycle and Sponge City Technology was elected as Vice Chairman of IAHS through the nomination of Nominations Committee of IAHS, the voting of representatives of member countries and the approval of the Council of IAHS.
As the most authoritative international academic organization in the domain of hydrological science, IAHS has 10 affiliated committees covering fields like surface water, underground water, hydrological statistics, land erosion, ice and snow, water quality, water resources system, remote sensing hydrology, relation among atmosphere, soil and vegetation and hydrological tracer element. Its members consist of over one hundred countries all over the world. In 1993, Professor Xu Zongxue attended the academic exchange activity held by IAHS in Yokohama, Japan for the first time. After returning to the China in 2003, he actively participated in plentiful academic exchanges of IAHS. On the 25thIUGG General Assembly kicked off in Melbourne, Australia in 2011, Professor Xu Zongxue was elected as Vice Chairman of ICWRS, and in 2015 was reappointed consecutively on the 26thIUGG General Assembly held in Prague, Czech Republic. As being promoted to Vice Chairman of IAHS this time, Professor Xu Zongxue can not only directly engage in the related undertakings and academic exchanges concerning advanced and new research fields of international hydrological science in person, but also play a more positive role in improving China's status among worldwide academic organization of hydrological science.
Professor Xu Zongxue takes a group photo with part of new members of the Council of IAHS
In recent years, focusing on the development and application of distributive hydrological model, Professor Xu Zongxue has conducted plentiful effective researches on ecological hydrology, urban hydrology, the influence of climate change on water cycle and other relevant areas. He has successively published over 360 academic papers, among which there are more than 200 SCI/EI theses and more than 10 monographs. As a winner of German "Humboldt Fellowship", Professor Xu Zongxue has obtained the extensive recognition of the domestic and foreign hydrological science circles. While gaining honors of the "Outstanding Contribution Award on International Hydrological Cooperation" of CNC of International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and the "Endeavour Executive Awards" of Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) of the Federal Government of Australia, Professor Xu Zongxue is actively engaging in international exchanges. The election as Vice Chairman of IAHS this time proves that international hydrological science sphere has approved the undertakings of China's hydrological science and the professionalism of Professor Xu Zongxue. With the election of Professor Xu Zongxue, the reputation and influence of China's hydrological undertakings in the international field of hydrological science, especially the awareness and academic status of College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University will be tremendously elevated.