Cheng Guodong, geocryologist, was born in Shanghai in July 1943. He graduated from Beijing Geology College (current China Geology University) in 1965 and majored in Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology. He was elected the acadremician of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1993 and had held some important posts such as president of International Permafrost Association (1993-1998) and director of State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering (1996-2005). Now he is director of Lanzhou Branch of the CAS.

Having been engaged in studying frozen ground in Tibet Plateau in the past 40 years, Professor Cheng has systematically dealt with the problems such as formation cause, distribution and cartography of ground ice, as well as the principles and methods of engineering construction on it. He has provided significant engineering geologic evaluation for several state key construction projects in Tibet Plateau. His repeated segregation mechanism about formation of thick ground ice, termed as “Chengs Hypothesis” in the world, has solved an important theoretical problem which had kept pending long in geocryology. His threedimensional zonality mode on distribution of permafrost at high altitudes is viewed favorably and cited widely by international scientists in geocryology.

In addition, as a precedent for railway construction in frozenground region, Professor Cheng has advanced an initiative thought and a technical package to cool roadbed by regulating radiation, convection and conduction, which has been comprehensively applied to the construction of QinghaiTibet Railway.

As a chief scientist, Chengs research group has progressed and implemented a research framework combining water resource, ecological and economic systems, with a water base in a basin unit, accompanying the establishment of a 3M (Monitoring, Modeling, Manipulating) platform and a primarilybuilt “digitized Heihe River Basin.” This has provided a scientific platform for multidisciplinary research. He has also paid close attention and successfully launched earlier studies on Ecohydrology and Ecological Economics in arid areas of China.