Prof. Kim Juniper and Prof. Kening Zhang Invited to Give Lectures on the “Development and Prospects of Deep-Sea Resources” at the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University

Prof. Kim Juniper and Prof. Kening Zhang were invited byProf. Nianzhi Jiao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to deliver lectures on the 66th LuncheonSeminar of the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science at Xiamen University’s campus in Xiang’an District. Prof. Kim Juniper is the Chief Scientist of Ocean Networks Canada, and has been a professor in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences and the Department of Biology at the University of Victoria. Their lectures revolve around “Deep-Sea Mining, Deep-Sea Ecosystems and Deep-Sea Genetic Resources”, and “Development of the Legal Regime of International Seabed Mining: 22 Years of the International Seabed Authority and Beyond ”. More than one hundred teachers and students from SCSI and the State Key Laboratory attended the seminar, which was hosted by Prof. Nianzhi Jiao.

Firstly,Prof. Kim Juniper introduced the current situations of the deep-sea mining, and the newest mining equipment. Then, he focused on theimpacts that deep-sea mining may bring to the deep-sea ecosystems, which was comprised of two parts: marine environment and marine biology. In addition,Prof. Kim Juniper underlined the distribution of deep-seagenetic resourcesin submarine hydrothermal and manganese nodules, which is currently one of the issues in ocean law under hot discussions.

Prof. Kening Zhang served as Secretary to the Council and the Assembly of theInternational Seabed Authority for 16 years. He introduced ISA’sbasic organizational structure, the composition of the Assembly and the voting mechanism. Then heexpounded on the achievements and future work plans of the ISA, and pointed out that the most important work of the Authority is to create a deep-sea mining code. Lastly, he spoke highly of the active role that China has played as a responsible country in ISA over the years.

During the seminar, enthusiastic interaction was made between the professors andthe audience, withactive questions and answers. Undoubtedly, it was a wonderful course concerning international seabed area.Prof. Nianzhi Jiao also encouraged interdisciplinary exchanges between teachers and students of the College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and the South China Sea Institute.