Professor of sustainability wins international science award

ASU professor and ecologist Jianguo Wu is the winner of the 2006 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Award for International Scientific Cooperation.

Wu, a core member of ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability and a professor in the School of Life Sciences and the School of Sustainability, is being recognized for his “pioneering efforts and contributions to sustainability science, career-long involvement with landscape ecological research in China, and training and mentoring of young scholars.”

Thinking in a global perspective has become second nature to Wu, who considers ecology an international field of research. He has been collaborating with Chinese researchers for more than two decades and has developed a network of relationships with colleagues in Australia, Canada, South Korea and several countries in Europe.

Wu credits his successes in the field of sustainability science with the initiatives of ASU on global engagement.

“I have been working closely with ASU’s Office of the President and the China Council, and have been encouraged in my efforts to work abroad,” Wu said. “This is not an award for an individual, but it really is a product of the encouragement I have received from ASU, particularly the Global Institute of Sustainability and School of Life Sciences.”

Some of Wu’s work on sustainability science has focused on the ecology and restoration of the vast Inner Mongolia grassland in the semi-arid region of China. He has also made significant contributions to the fields of landscape ecology and urban ecology, which have been partly incorporated into the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research project.

Wu will be presented the award Feb. 17 at the annual AAAS meeting in San Francisco. He will receive a monetary prize of $5,000 and a commemorative plaque.