XIEG Holds 34th Salon for Scientific Exchange

The Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, held the 34th “Salon for Scientific Exchange" (SSE) on December 27. Prof. ZHANG Daoyuan, Deputy Director of XIEG, Dr. Alice Hughes, Associate Professor at the Hong Kong University, and Prof. LI Xiaoshuang were invited to share their ideas on how female researchers break the glass ceiling and how to balance career, family and other concerned issues.

Dr. Alice Hughes gave a presentation on the topic "Overcoming the persistent barriers for women in science". She shared her research career and introduced the pressure faced by female researchers in different regions and cultural backgrounds through numerous cases. She also shared the methods and paths to deal with these challenges in a humorous manner, which she backed up with her own study and work experience in different countries.

Prof. ZHANG Daoyuan responded to the topic, "glass ceiling for female researchers". She said that this may be a universal problem, but teamwork and collaboration may provide the possibility to break the "glass ceiling". Meanwhile, she gave her own advice on how to balance administration, research and family life.

Prof. LI Xiaoshuang shared the inspiration for her newly published paper, and stated that she is planning to explore new research fields such as habitable planet, and plants in space.

During the panel discussion, the three female researchers highly praised the contribution of females to sci-tech innovation, and shared the difficulties that the female researchers came across during their work and life. They believed that female researchers can contribute to the science community through their own effort and teamwork.

Alice is an Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong, and PIFI visiting scientist at XIEG. She got her PhD at the University of Bristol. Before join us, she worked in China, Thailand, the CSIRO in Canberra and other organizations. She is President of INTECOL, Chief editor of Climate Change Ecology and on various task forces for the UN, working groups for a number of NGOs and IGOs, and a data ambassador for GBIF. Her research focuses on the interface between conservation ecology and conservation action. She and her team collect and utilize diverse data to enable the development of new methods and frameworks, then integrate the outcomes into policy and practice through her various roles. She is the author of over 200 papers and was in the top 2% of most cited researchers in Ecology in 2023.

Alice Hughes gives her presentation (Image by WANG Meng)

Panel discussion (Image by LONG Huaping)

Group photo (Image by WANG Meng)

Contact

LONG Huaping

Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography

E-mail: longhp@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Web: http://english.egi.cas.cn