After two rounds of voting from the International Scientific Committee of the 8th International Conference on gas hydrates, Colorado in the U.S. won a vote over the competitor Busan in South Korea, to be the next (ninth) International Conference on Gas Hydrate organizer. The conference will be held in the U.S. for the third time in 2017.

As one member of the International Scientific Committee having the right to vote, the State Department counselor and China Geological Survey researcher Zhang Hongtao said, “Government’s attention, drilling results and paper quality are the key factors affecting vote. The U.S. has been leading the world in international cooperation, technology and theory; especially its ideas, methods and innovation are worth learning. “Young Chinese scholars began to emerge in the international gas hydrate research areas in recent years and won reorganization gradually. 36 out of total 126 oral presentations in the conference were made by Chinese experts. The majority of them were young scholars.

In addition, the conference also announced the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Donald W. Davidson Youth Award winners. Dr. John Rip Mister from National Research Council Canada (NRC), Dr. Li Xuan from Korea Institute of Science and Technology and Dr. Arafat Colombo from Shell Technology Centre Amsterdam won this session Lifetime Achievement Award. Donald W. Davidson Youth Award was gained by Li Zhuyong from Korea Institute for Earth Sciences and Mineral Resources, only 7 years after obtaining a doctorate, to recognize her breakthrough achieved in gas hydrate sediments reaction and her research in the importance of gas hydrate production.

Director of China Geological Survey Dr. Zhong Ziran addressed the awards ceremony, “In the past four days, we have seen the feasibility of applying the theory of natural gas hydrate to meeting the community and industry needs through technical innovation. We have a better understanding of how to mitigate climate change and geological disasters.”