Foreign member of CAS, Prof. Peter H. Raven visited CIB from July14 to July 16. He is a leading botanist and advocate of conservation and biodiversity with a notably international outlook, is president of the Missouri Botanical Garden and George Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition, Dr. Raven is a Trustee of the National Geographic Society and Chairman of the Society's Committee for Research and Exploration. Prof. Wu Ning, on behalf of CIB extended a warm welcome to his coming, and introduced the generally information of CIB about scientific and technology achievements. Then, Prof. Wu accompanied him to visit department for natural products, Museum of Herpetology and Herbarium, CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bio-resource UtilizationWhile, Dr. Liao Xun, vice director of CIB scientific department, Prof. Sun Jian, director of department for natural products, Prof. Tang Yezhong, vice director of Department of Herpetology, Prof. Pan Kaiwen, vice director of department for ecology study, Prof. Gao Xingfen, in charge of Herbarium Museum accompanied.
Then, Prof. Raven deliver a memorial lecture titled "Biodiversity and Conservation in China and the World", and the lecturing session was presided over by Prof. Wu Ning, director of CIB. Meanwhile, a certificate of honorary Director for CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bio-resource Utilization was given to Prof. Raven on behalf of CIB by director Wu Ning. Prof. Raven first realized more than 40 years ago that the rapid growth of the human population, consumption, and the spread of polluting technologies were threatening biological diversity in a way that had not been a focus of attention earlier. He soon became an outspoken advocate of the need for conservation throughout the world based on efforts to attain sustainability and social justice everywhere. He was described by TIME magazine as a "Hero for the Planet," and has received numerous prizes and awards, including the International Prize for Biology from the government of Japan; Volvo Environment Prize; the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement; the Sasakawa Environment Prize; and the BBVA Prize for Ecology and Conservation, Madrid. Earlier, he held Guggenheim and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowships.
In China, Prof. Raven was elected a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1994, and has also been named Honorary Director of the Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany and of the Herbarium, Institute of Botany, Beijing; Honorary Director, Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-sen; Honorary Chairman, Laboratory of Biodiversity and Biogeography, Kunming Institute of Botany; Honorary Director, Wuhan Institute of Botany; Honorary Professor, Honorary Professor, Peking University; Honorary Professor, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou.