Introduction:

The Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes (TEL) focuses on the study of environment changes on the Tibetan Plateau, their roles in the global changes, and their interactions with human activities. It aims to study the Tibetan Plateau environment, advance our understanding of the interaction between environmental changes and human activities, so as to serve for regional, even national social and economic sustainable development.

The TEL currently holds 47 scientific staff, including 43 research fellows, three technicians and one administrative staff. Among them, there is one CAS academician (Prof. YAO Tandong), two winners of Distinguished Young Scholars of NSFC (Profs. YAO Tandong and MA Yaoming), and ten recipients of Hundred-Talent Program of CAS.

With 13 research fellows qualified as supervisors of Ph.D. candidates, the TEL has the authority to confer Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in physical geography, and M.S. in atmospheric physics and environment. It also offers post-doctoral research program in physical geography.

Major themes under study are as follows:

• Palaeo-environment reconstruction on the Tibetan Plateau
• Modern environment and land surface processes on the Plateau
• Plateau environment changes and human activities
• Tibetan Plateau environment and global changes

Facilities:

The TEL is equipped with sophisticated apparatus such as, an isotope ratio mass spectrometer, inductively-coupled plasma spectrometer, total organic carbon/nitride analyzer, Gamma ray detector, cold storeroom and ultra-clean room. Miscellaneous field instrument and equipment have also been acquired and set up for investigation and monitoring at field stations.

Worth noting that scientists at the TEL have renovated a batch of operating systems, the thermal ice core drilling system, ice core bubble volume-concentration-isotope extraction and input system, TSP and PM2.5 aerosol sampling system, lake investigation platform and sediment coring system, so as to meet the demand for field work on the geographically-complicated Plateau.　

Faculty:

Chairman of the Academic Advisory Board: Academician Dr. QIN Dahe

Director: Academician Dr. YAO Tandong　　

Deputy Directors: Dr. XU Baiqing & Dr. YANG Kun