On May 10^th, 2005, Dr. Kenneth Mac Clune from Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (IAAR), University of Colorado, was invited by Prof. Tian Lide of ITP to exchange views on some academic researches with ITP scientific staff.

In his introduction, Dr. Mac Clune displayed the equipment in the Laboratory for Environmental Analysis, IAAR and its normal operation. He revealed that the current engagement of their laboratory is in the examination of such stable isotopes as CH₄, carbon isotope, oxygen isotope to study global environmental changes.

In his presentation, the five box model of methane reconstructed on the basis of monitoring of entire CH₄ provoked many thoughts and discussions among ITP researchers, who expressed their interest in the study.