Centre for Environmental Science and Technology

1. Introduction

Environmental research has been an area of excellence within the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) almost since the establishment of the then City Polytechnic. In order to provide a better research focus and to foster collaboration among different disciplines within the University, the Centre for Environmental Science and Technology was established in January 1995. The mission of the Centre is to contribute to the solutions of environmental problems, local, regional or global, through the enhancement of environmental research, consultancy, education and training. It is unique in Hong Kong with its strength in interdisciplinary research in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science. Currently, the Centre focuses primarily on two themes which reflect the strength of its members:

• water pollution and eco-toxicology
• air pollution and meteorology

Members of the Centre include 28 full-time academic staff of CityU engaged in environmental research, all of whom have received significant regional and international recognition through their publications in international journals and collaborative research projects with overseas institutions. Many of them are also actively engaged in research programmes sponsored by other countries (including China, UK, USA and Australia) and international organisations (such as the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, the United Nations Environmental Programme and the World Climate Research Programme). In addition, the Centre currently has one visiting professor and six research scientists working on specific environment-related projects sponsored by CityU.

2. Objectives of the Centre

To accomplish the mission of the Centre, the following objectives have been established:

• to foster, facilitate and coordinate interdisciplinary environmental research within the University;
• to make available expertise in environmental science and technology to the local community and help solve environmental problems in Hong Kong;
• to attract outside research funding and consultancy work in the area of environmental science and technology;
• to serve as a major resource centre for local environmental data and information; and
• to organize or facilitate seminars, conferences and training courses in environmental science and technology for local and international communities.

3. Expertise

Research of Centre members can be broadly categorized into the following areas:

• air pollution
• aquatic ecology
• environmental radiation
• environmental systems and modelling
• environmental toxicology
• marine and freshwater pollution
• meteorology and climate
• pollution control and waste management
  

The expertise of each member is listed below:

4. Research activities

Members have been very successful in obtaining research grants from CityU, the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the Universities Grants Committee of Hong Kong and other funding agencies. During the 1995/96 year, members were either the principal investigator or co-investigator of 52 research projects with a total amount of over HK$21 million. In particular, seven new research proposals were funded by the RGC totalling HK$3 million.

The success in research input has translated into high research output. During the academic year 1995/96, members published a total of 70 refereed journal articles, along with about the same number of conference papers. A list of the publications is available on request.


5. Consultancy services

In addition to academic research, members also provided consultancy services to the Hong Kong community. During 1995/96, more than 50 such projects were undertaken in the areas of :

• ecological studies
• environmental impact assessment
• meteorological evidence for insurance claim
• pollutant analysis
• radiation monitoring and protection
• toxicity testing

6. Facilities

The Centre has two purposely-built laboratories, one for environmental chemistry and biology and one for environmental physics. In addition, the Centre has a Geographical Information System (GIS) unit. Major equipment include:

• LIDAR system
• Ultrasparc Workstation
• Digitizer
• High-volume air sampler
• HPLC
• Capillary electrophoresis unit
• 2D-gel electrophoresis unit
• Microtox
• UV-Vis Spectrophotometer
• Microplate readers (UV & fluorescence)

Other equipment for environmental studies are also available for members’ use in the Departments of Biology and Chemistry, and Physics and Materials Science.

7. News

2nd International Conference on Marine Pollution and Ecotoxicology will be held on 10th to 14th June 1998.

8. Enquiries

The Centre welcomes proposals for collaborative research and is able to provide consultancy services, education and training on various topics related to the environment.

Phone: 2788 7404
Fax: 2788 7406
Email: readmin@cityu.edu.hk
Web: http://www.cityu.edu.hk/rce/


April 97