Global change and carbon chemistry pioneer Chen-Tung Arthur Chen of NSYSU was elected an Academia Sinica Academician

2024-07-23

Academia Sinica announced the list of newly elected Academicians for the 34th term. Chen-Tung Arthur Chen, an adjunct Chair Research Professor at the Department of Oceanography of National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU), was listed among the electees. His expertise is in carbon chemistry and global change, and the research scope has covered the three oceans with numerous scholarly publications. The title of Academician of Academia Sinica is an honorary lifelong position, symbolizing the highest academic honor in Taiwan. Chen-Tung Arthur Chen is also the first professor in the 44 years since the founding of NSYSU to be awarded the honor of Academician of Academia Sinica while still serving at the university.

Academia Sinica announced the election results of the new Academicians and Honorary Academicians list on the evening of July 4. A total of 28 new Academicians and 2 Honorary Academicians were elected, hitting a new high in recent years. The newly elected Academicians include 8 from the Division of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, 8 from the Division of Engineering Sciences, 6 from the Division of Life Sciences, and 6 from the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences. Among them, Chen-Tung Arthur Chen was elected an Academician from the Division of Mathematics and Physical Sciences. According to the official website of Academia Sinica, the title of Academician is an honorary lifelong position, with duties including electing Academicians and Honorary Academicians, electing members to the Council, planning for the directions and policies of national academic research, and authorized by the government and relevant organizations to carry out academic planning, surveying, reviewing, and research.

NSYSU stated that Chair Research Professor Chen's research scope covers the three oceans, as well as the Antarctic and Arctic. He is one of the global pioneers in carbon cycle and ecological research. He won the Biwako Prize for Ecology in Japan, symbolizing the highest honor in the ecology field, and an award of 5 million Japanese yen (equivalent to 50,000 US dollars at the time). The Biwako Prize for Ecology is awarded to two outstanding researchers every two years, one Japanese and one non-Japanese. Chair Research Professor Chen is the first scholar in Taiwan to receive the Prize. In addition, he also served as the Vice-Chair of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme of the International Council for Science for seven years, making his election as an Academician of Academia Sinica well-deserved.

Furthermore, Chen-Tung Arthur Chen was ranked the first marine scientist in Asia and Australia last year. In the latest ranking data among 15,542 Oceanographers worldwide, his lifetime scientific influence ranking rose from eighth to seventh worldwide last year.

Chen-Tung Arthur Chen stated that in the 1970s when the concept of global change wasn't introduced, he decided to work on a new discipline-ocean carbon chemistry after careful consideration. Since being recruited back to Taiwan in 1984, he has begun to pay attention to global change issues and has unexpectedly become a pioneer in this field. In the large-scale international ocean margins research project he co-led, he pointed out for the first time that in the past, the Yangtze River was mistakenly believed to be the main source of nutrients in the East China Sea fisheries. In fact, the Kuroshio deep water rises to the East China Sea continental shelf, bringing phosphorus needed for biological growth, and has been confirmed and corrected by scientific research data. His relevant research has given Taiwan a place in the field of global change.

Chen-Tung Arthur Chen pointed out as early as 1999 that the deep waters of the Sea of Japan may run out of oxygen in two hundred years. Now, this sign is even more obvious. In 2017, Nature Climate Change, the world's top global change journal, reported that due to global warming, the acidification caused by the consumption of oxygen in the deep water of the Sea of Japan is even worse than the acidification caused by fossil fuel carbon dioxide dissolving into surface water. This warning has been included in the five-year report (IPCC AR6) of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Academia Sinica issued a press release stating that the election of Academicians follows the "The Regulations for the Election of Academicians of Academia Sinica" and is jointly nominated by current Academicians or proactively by universities or research institutions. The "Academicians' Election Committee," composed of Academicians, reviews the candidates' qualifications. The list will be discussed individually at the "preliminary meeting discussion" of the Convocation of Academicians. Academicians in each respective division shall cast their votes on the nomination of each individual nominee by registered postal mail, which the Council of Academia Sinica will review. Candidates to be listed for the election will be decided by a simple majority of those present. Finally, the candidates are submitted to the Convocation of Academicians, where each division will review the candidates in detail. After a comprehensive review by all Academicians, the new Academician will be voted on. Only through a careful and rigorous process can this honor be won. Academia Sinica currently has 271 Academicians, and after the new Academicians were announced, the number increased to 299, and the number of Honorary Academicians rose from 15 to 17.