Representatives of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) have entered into an agreement with a Chinese university that will expand educational cooperation and initiate collaborative efforts on freshwater-related research.
Johannes Britz, UWM Provost and Vice Chancellor, and David Yu, interim dean of the Graduate School, today met with local leaders and scientists involved in water innovation and conservation efforts at Ningbo University (NBU) in Ningbo, China, to sign an agreement to promote graduate degree programs and freshwater research and to further cooperation in these areas.
In addition to joint research, the agreement outlines specific efforts to expand educational opportunities. While the two universities have hosted student exchanges since 2006, they now are exploring a process by which NBU and other Chinese students can enroll in and complete graduate-degree programs offered by UWM. The partners will also investigate developing undergraduate dual-degree agreements that will allow qualified NBU students to study at both universities and have their degrees conferred by both.
“We want to establish a regular UWM instructional presence in Ningbo, China, in partnership with Ningbo University,” said Britz. “Both universities also are committed to research into technologies that will address the growing global water challenges.”
The two universities will work together on three areas of freshwater research, including:
- alternative food sources for intensive aquaculture
- nutrient/carbon cycling in aquatic ecosystems
- remediation of contaminated waters using ‘in-place’ technologies
“The initiatives in freshwater research emphasize the importance of freshwater and the intensive aquaculture industry to both China and the U.S.,” said David Garman, dean of the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences. “The discussions with NBU’s School of Marine Science have resulted in identification of these key areas for research cooperation.”
Ningbo University, with its School of Marine Science, is in the Zhejiang Province, bordering on the East China Sea in the southern part of the Yangtze Delta. With an undergraduate enrollment of 23,000, compared to 24,600 at UWM, Ningbo University offers mostly undergraduate degrees and partners with other universities to offer doctoral programs.
The UWM School of Freshwater Sciences is the only graduate school in the nation dedicated solely to the study of freshwater. It offers both master’s and doctoral programs integrated across four major areas: freshwater system dynamics; human and ecosystem health; freshwater technology; and freshwater economics, policy and management.
