Dr. Cathy Hollis, Chair of the International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS) and Professor at the University of Manchester, recently sent a congratulatory message to Chengdu University of Technology's Institute of Sedimentary Geology and International Research Center for Sedimentary and Biogeochemistry, celebrating the awarding of the 2024 Johannes Walther Medal to Professor Li Chao. The award ceremony, scheduled for June 2024 during the 37th International Sedimentology Congress in Aberdeen, United Kingdom, will honor Li Chao with the medal and a certificate, where he has been invited to deliver a keynote address.
The Johannes Walther Medal, established by the International Association of Sedimentologists in honor of the German geologist J. Walther, is bestowed once every two years upon a single scientist worldwide, recognizing significant contributions to the field of sedimentology. Li Chao becomes the first Chinese scientist and scholar of Chinese descent to receive this prestigious accolade.
Li Chao's research primarily focuses on the early Earth's marine environmental evolution and its effects on life, minerals, and energy. He has made innovative contributions in areas such as the spatial structure of early Earth oceans, particularly in the Paleozoic era, the co-evolution of ocean chemistry and complex life, biogeochemical cycling of key life elements in stratified marine environments, and the geochemistry of ancient ocean carbonate sedimentation. His research findings, published as first author or corresponding author, have appeared in prominent international and domestic academic journals such as Nature, Science, National Geographic, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Chinese Science Bulletin, Geology, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (EPSL), and Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (GCA). His work has been lauded by Science for "illuminating the critical link between the chemical evolution of the Neoproterozoic ocean-atmosphere system and the early evolution of animals." Li Chao has also served as associate editor or editorial board member for nine prestigious domestic and international journals, including GCA, Geobiology, Science Bulletin, and Chinese Science: Earth Sciences (both English and Chinese editions).
Congratulations! Image provided by Chengdu University of Technology.
