Plant Ecologist shares the “Tracing Wilson’s Journey” in City Seminar

Tracing One Hundred Years of Change, Illustrating the History - Tracing Wilson’s Journey (追尋百年曆史，見證環境變遷 - 重走威爾遜之路), the last lecture of City Seminar Series in 2015, was successfully held on 12th November by the College of Business. Over 90 faculty members, guests, alumni and students attended the event.

Prof Kaipu Yin, plant ecologist and researcher in the Chengdu Institute of Biology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, spent 13 years of research and fieldwork to retrace the steps in Western China which a British plant explorer Ernest Henry Wilson (1876-1930) had visited 100 years ago. With the hard work and endeavours given, Prof Yin published a book consisting 250 sets of photos to compare Wilson's landscape photography from the early twentieth century with today’s.

In the City Seminar, Prof Yin shared his observations on the environmental changes by comparing the new and old photos. “There is rapid urbanisation and community shifts in Western China over the hundred years, but some of the significant sites were destroyed. We also lost some traditional cultures in the course of development.” Prof Yin hoped that more people would be aware of the issue of environment protection, "The community should start thinking about how to conserve the nature in a sustainable way.” He said.

Apart from the lecture, Prof Yin generously prepared 100 sets of photos for an exhibition held from 4th to 17th November on 3/F, Academic 3. The College would like take this opportunity to express its gratitude to both Prof Yin and Lee Woo Sing College of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, for their kind support in the photo exhibition and the lecture.

About the City Seminar

The City Seminar 香港席明納  was initiated by Prof Houmin Yan, Dean of the College, with an aim to discuss topics together (席Xí), to understand such topics in depth (明Míng), and to gain something of value from the discussions (納Nà). The College will be inviting a number of professors and/or scholars to explore various topics during the series.

To watch Prof Yin's speech in the City Seminar, please click here.
For more information about past and upcoming seminars, please visit the City Seminar website.