CAS Vice President CHEN Zhu (5th from left) has a group photo with current and previous leaders of IBCAS.

Prof. MA Keping, an expert in plant ecology and biodiversity, has been appointed the director of the CAS Institute of Botany (IBCAS) in Beijing. The announcement was made on June 9. Prof. Ma, 48, received his doctoral degree from the Northeast Forestry University in July 1991. From October 1991 to January1994, he conducted postdoctoral research at IBCAS. He was a vice director of the IBCAS from to. He concurrently serves as secretary-general of the China National Committee for Diversitas, vice chair and secretary-general of the CAS Biodiversity Committee. CAS Vice President CHEN Zhu was present at the meeting of the announcement. He asked IBCAS to improve its integration of agro-biotechnologies and make contributions to solution of the problems of agriculture, countryside and farmers in line with the needs of the country and people.