Chinese scholars meet to examine environmental health issues

More than 25 Chinese scholars studying in the United States will convene in Madison next week to study ways to attack global environmental problems.

The students, from a variety of disciplines, hope to establish an Environmental Health Network of Chinese Scholars to promote discussion on public health and environmental issues. The newspaper China Daily reported recently that there were more than 50,000 protests or disputes in China in 2005 about environmental issues.

The conference begins at 10 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 15, at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St., with a panel discussion on “Environmental Issues in China: Now and in the Future.” The conference runs through Sunday, Sept. 17.

Lu Xiaojun , a UW–Madison doctoral student in microbiology, says he helped organize the group to combine the intellectual force of doctoral and postdoctoral students from universities around the country, including Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania and Duke, in disciplines from law to journalism, soil science, history, physics, public affairs, cell science and engineering.

“We need to better understand the environmental issues in both China and the U.S.,” he says. “We need to know what is happening in environment-related business and in U.S. government policies.”

He said some of the issues expected to be discussed include:

• What kind of environmental issues does China currently have?
• What kind of environmental issues might China have in the future due to quick development?
• What can we learn from the developed countries, such as the United States?
• How can we help solve China’s environmental problems?

The scholars will be the guests of several law firms, consulting companies, the Department of Natural Resources, Milk Marketing Board and others. The conference includes a Friday tour of GE Healthcare in Waukesha and a speech by a health expert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.