MTSU biology professor Jeffrey L. Walck, right, receives a Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists this spring at the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Professor Yao Huang, director of the State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change at the Institute of Botany in China, presents the award. (Submitted photo)

MTSU biology professor Jeffrey L. Walck was awarded a “Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists” this spring at the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“This award allows me to conduct research into the responses of plants to climate change in the Mu Us Sandland of Inner Mongolia, China, one of the four largest sandy grasslands in China,” Walck said.

Walck is on the professorship from mid-May through July 15. Walck spent time at Ordos Sandland Ecological Research Station June 8-15. He said he and his wife, Siti Hidayati, a fellow researcher and educator, will attend Seed Ecology IV in Shenyang, China, from June 22-26. It is a meeting of seed science experts.

Walck’s host is professor Zhenying Huang, a faculty member in the State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change at the Institute of Botany.

Walck said the aim of the program is “to enhance the science and technology innovation capacity of Chinese Academy of Sciences institutes by inviting accomplished researchers from overseas to participate in research with the hope of strengthening the cooperation and exchange between Chinese Academy of Sciences institutes and international research institutions and universities.”

Hidayati rejoined Walck June 20 in China. She has been in Indonesia dealing with some items related to a faculty Fulbright research grant she recently was awarded, he said. Hidayati will perform her Fulbright research in Indonesia in 2014.

Walck and Hidayati were featured in the MTSU Research magazine in 2012. Their story can be found at http://issuu.com/goblueraiders/docs/researchmagazine2012.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)