On November 9, 2023, at the invitation of College of Earth and Environmental Sciences of Lanzhou University, Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Ministry of Education, Professor Zhang Hucai of Yunnan University gave an academic report entitled "Progress of Paleoecological and Paleoenvironmental Research in the Late Pleistocene of Songnen Plain, Northeast of China". The report was hosted by Professor Dong Guanghui, and more than 50 teachers and students listened to the report in conference room 502 of Qilian Hall.

Professor Zhang Hucai took the scientific issue of MIS3 climate change as the starting point of the report, and discussed in depth the climate and environmental changes, fauna evolution and early human evolution since the middle to late Pleistocene in the northeast of China, as well as the relationship between them. Professor Zhang Hucai described the progress of the work of his team and collaborators in the Songhua River Basin over the past two decades, including the chain of evidence for human evolution from about 40,000 years ago to 3.4 millennia ago, the results of the longest time-spanning paleo-DNA study in East Asia to date, and the evidence of morphological and paleo-DNA analyses of the management of bovid animals by humans in the early Holocene. Subsequently, Professor Zhang Hucai synthesized and analyzed the multiple evidences and explained the process and interrelationships between the Late Pleistocene human activities and changes in the living environment in the Late Pleistocene Songnen Plain as revealed by him. Finally, Professor Zhang Hucai introduced the new progress of human evolution and climate change research.

After the presentation, Professor Zhang Hucai had a lively discussion with Professor Xia Dunsheng, Professor Dong Guanghui and other students and faculty members about the climate and environmental changes of the MIS3 stage, and the migration of fauna and its connection. The presentation enriched the understanding of the teachers and students of the Late Pleistocene climate and environmental change and biological evolution and other important scientific issues, and everyone expressed that they were deeply inspired and benefited a lot.

Expert Profile:

Zhang Hucai, Donglu Distinguished Professor (Grade II) of Yunnan University, and Foreign Academician of Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. He is the Chief Scientist (PI) of Highland Lake Ecology and Environmental Change Team. He is mainly engaged in research on lake sedimentation and climate change, lake ecology and pollution management. He has undertaken key projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), key projects of international cooperation, key projects of NSFC-Yunnan Joint Fund, Yunnan Provincial Leading Talent Program and High-end Introduced Talent Program, etc. He has published more than 300 papers in international top academic journals. As a major participant, he won the second prize of National Natural Science, the first prize of Natural Science of the Ministry of Education, and the first prize of Scientific and Technological Progress of the State Education Commission.