INTERNATIONAL OCEAN EARTH SCIENCE FRONTIERS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Seminars
Semester 1
Additional information: Prof. Guochun ZHAO, gzhao@hku.hk
Chair Professor Jian Lin is an internationally renowned geophysicist, a member of Academia Europaea and European Academy of Sciences. He is the Director of Advanced Institute for Ocean Research, Southern University of Science and Technology, and leads the construction of Shenzhen Ocean University. He has made seminal contributions to global ocean sciences and earthquake research. Prof. Lin was a Chair of the InterRidge International Science Program and a faculty member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography. He was elected a fellow of American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Henry Bigelow Chair Award for Excellence in Oceanography. Prof. Lin is a recipient of the 2024 Axford Medal Award by the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society. His research was recognized as the Top Ten Advances in Ocean Science and Technology (2019), First Prize of Natural Science Award of Guangdong Province (2020), Grand Prize of Ocean Science and Technology Award (2021), and Top Ten Advances in China for Oceanology and Limnology (2023). He has published close to 300 papers in high-impact international journals including Nature and Science; one of his earthquake research papers was ranked by the Institute of Scientific Information as the most-cited paper in a decade.
The ocean is linked to the most pressing global issues of our time, from climate changes and carbon neutralization, to bio-diversity, to geo-hazards, and to the development of blue economy. More than 70% of the Earth surface is covered by the ocean, but much of the inner space of our blue planet is still unexplored. Ocean Earth science and technology is now entering a new era thanks to the rapid integration of AI and unmanned systems. The new technologies, including big data, machine learning, and autonomous underwater robots, offer unprecedented opportunities. This presentation will focus on international breakthroughs, including (1) Pacific mega-quakes and tsunamis; (2) Indian Ocean-South China Sea subduction system evolution; and (3) Major advances in deep ocean exploration technologies.