For Immediate Release 22 August 1995
HKUST Students Promote
Environmental
Awareness
in Schools
Biology students from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology will embark on an ambitious project next month to mobilise secondary school students to help protect the environment.
Armed with knowledge and enthusiasm, the students will visit 80 secondary schools in Hong Kong between September and December, presenting illustrated talks to 96,000 pupils.
“Hong Kong is not only our home, it is also home to some unique natural habitats,” says Timothy Wong, a member of the Promotion of Environmental Protection Awareness Organising Committee. “These habitats, such as the Mai PO Marshes Nature Reserve, and our environment generally, are under threat from encroaching development and pollution.”
“The aim of this project is to develop awareness of the problems facing our environment and to encourage students to take action to protect the Earth themselves, by forming Nature Clubs at schools and spreading the message to their friends.”
The Biology undergraduates have been preparing materials, practising public speaking skills and arranging visits since June. In addition to showing slides of Hong Kong flora, fauna, special habitats and examples of environmental pollution and damage, the students will demonstrate some of the equipment used for pollution measurement and water sample analysis, as well as molecular biology tools.
Around 50 Biology majors from all three years of the undergraduate programme are involved in the project. The efforts of third-year students graduating after the summer will be continued by incoming freshmen in the fall semester. Leading the team are Professor Fu-Shiang Chia and Dr Albert Yu who play significant roles in organizing and implementing the project.
“The project has really added to the feeling of cohesion among our students. This is real evidence of the commitment of HKUST students to protecting the environment. I hope this spirit and commitment will establish this kind of project as a tradition in the Biology Department,” says Dr Yu.
The half-year project is sponsored by the Environment and Conservation Fund and Woo Green Fund.
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