Page 8 - Accelerating Research and Impact - Issue 6

Hong Kong is famous for its commerce and 21st century modernity, but also for its beautiful natural scenery and mountain trails. However, as the recent enthusiasm for hiking has shown, even the countryside can get a little overcrowded. The population of amphibians and reptiles, some of which are unique to Hong Kong, has fallen dramatically in recent decades, and some species are now facing extinction.
Let’s see how our scientists at the Science Unit (SU) led by Prof Mark McGinley foster a biodiversity-friendly city in their work of Conserving, Documenting and Discovering the natural life around us.
Citizen Scientists
Apart from conducting research, our scientists enjoy teaching non-science students at Lingnan University, Hong Kong’s liberal arts university, and hope that, as graduates, they will be able to apply this scientific knowledge to a broad scope of industries and professions.
Take the example of an administrative officer in the government. If they have the right mindset about the environment, they can contribute more than an ecologist like me in terms of promoting the right policies.
In a project funded by the University’s Knowledge Transfer Project Fund, Assistant Professor Jonathan Fong collaborated with the Outdoor Wildlife Learning Hong Kong to reach out to the young and old in the community, engage them in intergenerational partnerships, and innovatively train them to be “Citizen Scientists” in experiential learning for the conservation of reptiles and amphibians in distinct locations of Hong Kong which hold populations of different exotic species.
5
Accelerating Research and Impact
Prof Yik-Hei Sung, Assistant Professor of SU