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Distinguished Lecture – Conservation Biology of the Giant Panda

Distinguished Lecture – Conservation Biology of the Giant Panda
Date & Time
April 1, 2021 (Thurs) | 4-5pm (HKT)
Venue
ZOOM online lecture (https://bit.ly/2MBWLkU)
Speaker
Professor Fuwen Wei
Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor of Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

event poster

Abstract:

During past decades, genomics and metagenomics have developed very fast, and are widely applied to non-model species – especially wild animals to provide new insights to properly conserve the wildlife. The giant panda is not only the symbol of the world biodiversity conservation, but also a model to address questions of the evolutionary biology, especially the adaptive evolution to specialised bamboo diet.

In this talk, Professor Fuwen Wei will address the population history, adaptive evolution to the bamboo diet from different aspects such as morphology, behaviour, ecology, physiology, genetics, genomics and metagenomics of gut microbiomes. Finally, he will talk about how these new findings will benefit the conservation and management of giant pandas.

Professor Fuwen Wei

Speaker Professor Fuwen Wei

Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor of Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Professor Wei obtained his Bachelor Degree in Biology in 1984, and received his Master Degree in zoology in 1987 from China Western Normal University respectively. He carried out his PhD study from 1994 to 1997 and obtain the degree in 1997 from the Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Since then, he has been working as a Principle Investigator in the Institute of Zoology, CAS and served as deputy director for the institute from 2008-2017. From 2004, he serves as wildlife conservation consultant for State Forestry Administration, biodiversity conservation consultant of Ministry of Ecology and Environment, vice president of several professional societies such zoology and ecology. Professor Wei was elected as Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2017 and Fellow of Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in 2018. Professor Wei received the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2001 and Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Prize of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2018.

 

Professor Wei’s research focused on conservation biology of endangered animals, especially the giant and red pandas. He has performed pioneering work by applying genetic and genomic technique to assess the past, present and future status of endangered species, infer their evolutionary and demographic processes, and propose targeted strategies for their future survival. Professor Wei has proposed two new branches of Conservation Biology: Conservation Evolutionary Biology and Conservation Metagenomics.