Zhuhai is an ecologically rich city which provides multiple opportunities to engage in research related to ecology and biodiversity, particularly on wetland conservation, avian diversity and richness, as well as ecological restoration. To promote research and foster research collaboration in this area, the Environmental Science Programme has established the UIC Interdisciplinary Research Hub on Eco-Environmental Data of Zhuhai and the Zhuhai Bird Watching Society – UIC Environmental Science Programme Joint Biodiversity Research Center of Hengqin New Area.

With intensifying development and human activities, pollutants which were of relatively low concern before are becoming more prevalent in the environment now. These pollutants could come from pharmaceutical and personal care products for instance, hormones, antibiotics, analgesics and disinfectants. They could also be persistent organic pollutants such as pesticides and industrial chemicals which are difficult to be broken down naturally. Besides, the pervasiveness of microplastics in the environment is a growing concern. Studies of the prevalence, transport, fate and interactions of these pollutants are therefore significant.

Enormous amount of waste is generated every day and these waste materials are often sent for landfilling and incineration. Landfilling gives rise to the concern of expanding landfills at the cost of lands for other purposes particularly commercial, residential and agriculture, while incineration produces air pollutants and harmful residues. Many of the waste materials may still be of value. The Environmental Science Programme offers research which taps into waste materials for recycling and upcycling of the valuable components.

It is crucial to understand how different conventional and emerging environmental pollutants affect the biota and ultimately human health. This research area focuses on studying the toxicological effects of a single pollutant or a combination of pollutants on different organisms, especially aquatic organisms.

There has been increasing interest to capture, store, analyze and present various environmental data systematically. This research domain revolves around gathering, processing and visualization of environmental data with maps and 3-dimensional scenes. It aims to identify patterns, relationship as well as the spatial and temporal variations of the parameters of interest.