Professor TAN Liangcheng from the Institute of Earth Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Assoc. Prof. Sakonvan Chawchai from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand are active and outstanding young scientists in the field of Quaternary Science. 

In the past few years, the two scientists have conducted paleohydrological and climate change studies using high-resolution stalagmite, lake, and peat records in the Belt and Road region through joint international collaborative projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

They mainly explored the impacts of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), westerly wind zones, solar activities and volcanic eruptions on precipitation changes in the Northern Hemisphere mid-low latitude region at the centennial-to-interdecadal scale. 

The collaborative research results were published in journals such as PNAS and Quarterly Science Reviews. 

One of their main contributions in the field of Quaternary Geology is that they have constructed for the first time an exponential sequence of ITCZ movements over the last 2,000 years in the Central Indo-Pacific region, and found that 20th century droughts in the Northern Hemisphere tropics were similar to the historical warm period caused by enhanced El Ni？o activity and southward movement of the ITCZ.

These findings deepened the understanding of the century-decadal scale hydrological cycle in the low latitudes of the Asia-Pacific region, and provided a new key scientific basis for predicting future rainfall changes in the tropical regions under global warming and guaranteeing the construction of the "Maritime Silk Road". 

Through their active communication and liaison, the Institute of Earth Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Faculty of Science of Chulalongkorn University signed a cooperation research agreement to promote research on climate and environmental change in the Belt and Road region. 

Meanwhile, the two scientists took the lead in organizing the first Sino-Thai workshop on the Historical Climate of the Maritime Silk Road (2018). 

Group photo of scientists (Image by TAN Liangcheng)