WKU News

On August 10, 2026, Dr. Chris Groves, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences and Director of the Crawford Hydrology Lab, was one of 11 American academic scholars invited to the U.S. Experts Symposium, a hybrid meeting hosted by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Washington, D.C.

The meeting was opened by the Embassy's Minister-Counselor of Science and Technology, Mr. Dai Gang, and key remarks were made by Mr. Wang Dujing and Mr. Ding Ning, Directors-General at the Chinese Academies of Science and of Engineering, respectively. The group of American professors, representing a wide range of disciplines, was invited to provide thoughts about potentially fruitful ideas for U.S./Chinese cooperation in science and technology.

Dr. Groves, who has been working in China on water resources and landscape conservation for more than 30 years, focused his comments on the importance of collaboration to understand best practices for effective natural resource conservation, with a focus on both water and China's spectacular natural landscapes. He discussed WKU's 30-year history of collaboration through several scientific programs of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), including the World Heritage Program, the Man and the Biosphere Program, and the International Geoscience Program. This work has been focused on understanding and working to protect the fabulous karst landscapes and water resources of southwest China, where large caves, underground rivers, and huge springs are common, and which is home to some 80–100 million mostly rural Chinese.

During his comments, Dr. Groves emphasized the fringe benefit of what he considers to be "scientific diplomacy" resulting from enhanced communications, creating better understanding. In 2017, President Xi Jinping awarded Dr. Groves the International Cooperation in Science and Technology Award of the People’s Republic of China—China’s highest award for foreign scientists—for “great contributions to China’s hydrogeology and karst geology fields.”

These ongoing international collaborations strongly support student research and academic programs across campus. Many WKU students, faculty, and staff have traveled to rural southwest China to help with these applied resource conservation programs. More than a dozen undergraduate and graduate students have traveled to China for two-week courses or related fieldwork, including students from the Mahurin Honors College, the Chinese Flagship program, and the Applied Research and Technology Program. In 2024, Mahurin Honors College and Chinese Flagship student Evie Dukes presented her research, in Chinese, on international cooperation in resource management to leaders and landscape managers in Yunnan at the Shilin Property of the UNESCO South China Karst World Heritage Site.

WKU's connections in China continue to grow through related international activities. In September 2025, Dr. Groves was one of four United States representatives to the World Congress of UNESCO International Biosphere Reserves in Hangzhou, China, where he met with long-time WKU collaborators Luo Qukan and Bai Bing to discuss ongoing initiatives, share experiences in environmental monitoring, and enhance student training. Dr. Groves' next trip will be a two-day meeting in October in Guilin in southwest China's Guangxi Autonomous Region, where he will help teach a training course in hydrogeology at the UNESCO Category 2 International Research Center on Karst.