Tsinghua University’s “A Healthy Planet for Sustainable Development” Global Summer School 2022 will be held from July 4 to July 10. This year, the Summer School curriculum will include a special “SDG Hackathon”. The hackathon is composed of 11 sub-groups, each focusing on a different theme related to the SDGs. After selecting a sub-group to join, students will form an interdisciplinary “Innovation Team” to explore, develop and present solutions for the sub-group’s “Challenge” topic.
1. School/Department Host
School of Environment
2. Theme
Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development
3. Preface/Background brief of problems to be solved
Anthropogenic activities cause wide spread pollution in air, water, and soil. Such environmental pollution can jeopardize human health and damage ecosystems. Addressing these pollution issues will be critical for meeting SDG 2, 3, 6, 11, 13, 14, and 15. It is imperative to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for addressing these issues.
4. What questions we are particularly interested in
1). Soil pollution and impact to sustainable agriculture
2). Wastewater treatment and clean water supply
3). Air pollution prevention
4). Solid waste management and circular economy
5). Human health and ecological risks from emerging contaminants, such as microplastics, Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCP)
5. Hack Leader
Dr. Hou is an Associate Professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. His research interest includes sustainability of soil use and management, regional to global sources and distribution of heavy metal contamination, green and innovative remediation technologies, etc. Dr. Hou received his B.E. from Tsinghua University, M.S. from Stanford University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. Dr. Hou has published over 100 papers on top journals including Nature, Science, Nature Climate Change, etc. He is currently serving as an Editor-in-Chief for Soil Use and Management, and Associate Editor for Science of the Total Environment.
6. Mentor
Dr. Xianlai Zeng is currently an associate professor at the School of Environment at Tsinghua University. He obtained the bachelor (2002) and master (2005) degrees in Northwest A&F University, and Ph.D. (2014) at Tsinghua University. He worked as a technical advisor for the United Nations Development Programme (2015), visiting staff at Coventry University (2012), visiting professor at Macquarie University (2017), and Fulbright visiting fellow at Yale University (2018-2019). His areas of specialization and interest include e-waste management, resource sustainability, and circular economy. He has published around 100 articles, patents, and books. Dr. Zeng has chaired or organized a couple of leading international meeting or workshop on resource flow and environmental management.
Dr. Jun Huang is a tenured associate professor in the School of Environment at Tsinghua University, also the deputy director of Beijing Key Laboratory for Emerging Organic Contaminants Control (BKLEOC). Dr. Huang’s research mainly focus on the behavior and control strategy of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed professional papers and is the holder of 10 patents. He won the first prize of the National Natural Science Award in 2017 as well as the MOE Natural Science Award in 2013 and 2019. He is now serving the journal of Chemosphere as the associate editor, also the member of POPs professional committee of Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, and the First Experts Committee on Environmental Risk Assessment of Chemical Substances, Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
CHEN Zhuo, Assistant Professor of School of Environment, Tsinghua University. Her primary area of research focuses on reclaimed water disinfection, microbial risk control and mitigation strategies, reclaimed water safety evaluation and sustainable management for water reuse. She is the convenor of ISO/TC282/SC2/WG4. She is the Editor of Water Reuse journal.
7. Introduction of School/Department Host
School of Environment (SOE) of Tsinghua University has accumulated a considerable amount of experience in conducting research in a wide range of issues and disciplines, including water supply, wastewater treatment, air pollution control, solid wastes management, environmental chemistry, microbiology, ecology, energy and resources, environmental simulation, and environmental policy and management, etc. SOE provides students with a global perspective as well as the ability to contribute to the field of environmental science and engineering. Many outstanding environmental engineers, scientists and administrators are nurtured here. The subject of Environmental Sciences ranks 8th according to the QS World University Rankings 2021.
Source: Office of International Affairs
