CUHK received a generous donation of one million euros from the AXA Research Fund to establish a professorship of Geography and Resource Management to advance the University’s cross-disciplinary educational and research agendas in the environmental field for six years. The position is held by internationally renowned climate scientist, Prof. Lau Ngar-cheung Gabriel. Professor Lau is the new director of the Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability (IEES) at CUHK. He will launch scientific investigations into climate variability and change on different time and space scales, and lead the IEES in promoting environment-related education, research and knowledge transfer.

In his inaugural lecture held on 21 October, Professor Lau said, ‘It is very important that we understand how the climate system will behave in the coming decades, so as to make advance planning to adapt to our changing environment.’ He also reviewed his work on storm tracks and the El Nino phenomenon over the past four decades and discussed the importance and impact of climate change study on the world and the next generation.