On March 28,the Beijing Pathfinder Public Welfare Foundation andthe Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration (CAA) jointly initiated the"Polar Pathfinder Distinguished Research Fellows" appointment ceremony,held in Shanghai, where Yang Huigen, Director of the CAA,and Sheng Faqiang, founder of the Beijing Pathfinder Public Welfare Foundation,awarded the appointment letter to Dr. Huang Wentao, a national marine core talent and leader in polar upper-middle atmosphere physics research at the CAA, appointing him as the first "Polar Pathfinder Distinguished Research Fellow."
Speech by Director Yang Huigen of the CAA
Speech by Sheng Faqiang, founder of the Pathfinder Public Welfare Foundation
The year 2016 marked the beginning of the 13th Five-Year Plan and a critical period for building China into a strong maritime and polar nation. The State Oceanic Administration advanced the major "Snow Dragon Polar Exploration" project to ensure the deep implementation of the "Revitalizing the Oceans through Science and Technology" strategy. The "Snow Dragon Polar Exploration" project includes forming a polar aviation fleet, initially establishing a comprehensive land-sea-air observation platform in polar regions; developing technologies and equipment for space, remote sensing, ice and snow, and ocean exploration suitable for polar environments; and establishing a long-term, systematic, and networked polar integrated observation and application service system.
Sheng Faqiang presents the appointment letter to Dr. Huang Wentao
Advancing the "Snow Dragon Polar Exploration" project requires building a world-class polar research talent team. The Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration is China's only institution dedicated solely to polar research and logistical support. In 2015, the BeijingPathfinder Public Welfare Foundationand the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administrationsigned a cooperation agreement,jointlyestablishing the "Pathfinder Polar Talent Public Welfare Fund,"to be used forglobally recruiting andintroducinghigh-level talents in polar research and those who have made outstanding contributions to the field, andgranting them the title of "Polar Pathfinder Distinguished Research Fellow."Over the next five years, the Pathfinder Public Welfare Foundation will donate 1.5 million yuan annually to support the "Polar Pathfinder Distinguished Research Fellows" and recipients of the "Polar Pathfinder Special Allowance."
After the two partiesformally reached cooperation, the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration conducted a global search for polar scientific research talents, and formed a review panel that included Wang Jing, a mountaineer and one of the founders of the Pathfinder Public Welfare Foundation, to evaluate the candidates. Dr. Huang Wentao, then a Level 3 Research Fellow at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder, whose research is critically important for advancing polar atmospheric and space science, was selected by the expert committee and appointed as the first "Polar Pathfinder Distinguished Research Fellow."
Dr. Huang Wentao giving an academic lecture on site
The recruitment of Research Fellow Huang Wentao marks the start of the global talent recruitment initiative under China’s "Snow Dragon Polar Exploration" project. Huang Wentao graduated from the Department of Physics, College of Optoelectronics, Peking University in 2003 with a Ph.D. in Science. His main research focuses on the development of lidar technology and the use of lidar for atmospheric and space physics research. He participated in the development of a new generation of iron atom Doppler lidar, pioneering an innovative lidar technology that extended the simultaneous temperature and wind measurement capability of sodium atom Doppler lidar to the lower atmosphere for the first time, and conducted the first simultaneous, co-located, and co-altitude joint observations of iron and sodium atomic vertical fluxes in the mid-latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere, providing unique observational data for cosmic dust studies and middle atmosphere dynamics research.
Dr. Huang Wentao becomes the first "Polar Pathfinder Distinguished Research Fellow"
Sheng Faqiang stated, "I believe Dr. Huang Wentao’s leading expertise in atmospheric and space science research using LiDAR technology can make greater contributions to our country’s polar scientific research," and added that asthe initiator of the Pathfinder Public Welfare Foundation,since the establishment of the foundation, he has hoped to do something for polar scientific expeditions. "This time, being able tothroughour owncontribution support the development of the nation’s polarscientificresearch fills me with greatpride. In the foundation’s daily work, we will also do our utmost to actively promote polar culture and environmental protection concepts to the public."
All guests took a group photo with Dr. Huang Wentao
Beijing Pathfinder Public Welfare Foundationwasofficially registered and established with the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau on December 31, 2013. The foundation is committed to the mission of "supporting the development of polar scientific research and protecting the natural ecological environment." From preserving the ecological environments of the Hoh Xil and Dunhuang West Lake nature reserves, to donating for education and supporting students at Tsinghua University and educational causes in northwestern China, to providing disaster relief for sudden natural disasters such as the Ludian earthquake in Yunnan and the Tibet-Nepal earthquake, the Pathfinder Foundation has been actively fulfilling its public welfare responsibilities.
The path of public welfarehas no end, and the Pathfinder Public Welfare Foundationwill join hands withChina’sPolarResearch Instituteto jointlywritea new chapter inpolarpublic welfare initiatives.