From 13 to 16 November, Shizhen attended the International Conference on Atmospheric Environment, Extreme Weather, and Health, hosted by Hong Kong Baptist University and invited by Meng Gao. During the meeting, she chaired the session on “Causes and Mitigation of Air Pollution” and delivered an invited talk titled “Atmospheric Transformation of Organophosphate Esters: Evidence for Aqueous Secondary Formation in Aerosols.” 
🌾Journey to the Hani Terraces
From October 23 to November 2, 2025, the “Soil Excavation Team” composed of Fan, Xiao, Yuxin, and Hangyi, conducted fieldwork at the Hani Terraced Fields in Yuanyang County, Yunnan Province.
Recognized as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, the Hani Terraces are a masterpiece of human wisdom and nature’s artistry. For more than 1300 years, generations of Hani people have sculpted the mountainsides into cascading paddy fields, nourished by a centuries-old forest-village-terrace-river ecosystem that still thrives today.
Figure 1. Hani Terraces: morning mist, sunset glow, and sea of clouds（Photo by Hangyi）
🌱Digging into the Terraced Earth
Over several days of fieldwork, the team ascended from the lush valleys at 800 m to the misty ridges at nearly 2000m, collecting paddy soil profiles along the way. Each layer of soil tells a story about how carbon accumulates, transforms, and moves within this centuries-old agricultural landscape.
The samples will be used to analyze soil organic and black carbon contents and isotope compositions, shedding light on carbon cycling processes and contributing to understanding the climate resilience of traditional farming systems.
Figure 2. Sampling sites
Figure 3. Field Sampling workflow: site inspection, soil profile excavation, parameter measurement, and sample preparation
👣Challenges, Smiles, and Stories Along the Terraces
The slippery terraces, steep trails, and sudden mountain mists made the fieldwork challenging. Yet every shovel of soil, every set of measurements, and every laugh shared on the rice paddies make the journey worthwhile.
We are especially grateful to the Hani farmers and village committees for their warm support. Their stores about traditional irrigation and terrace management helped us appreciate the enduring vitality of this landscape.
Figure 3. Fieldwork Shadows
From left to right: Xiao, Fan, Hangyi, Yuxin, and the Hani terrace guide
（Written by Jiangfan）
ON October 31 to December 8, several of us (Shizhen, Jun, Gan, Jabir, Habib) attended the 45th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants, also known as Dioxin2025, in Atalaya, Turkey. Shizhen, Gan and Jabir gave oral presentations and each chaired a session; Professor Habib gave an oral presentation and raised lots of questions in different sessions; Jun manned a nice poster designed by 子洋. We met many friends and former group members, including Paramita Chakraborty, Tom Harner, Perihan, Roland Weber, 刘国瑞, 袁博, 肖航 etc. Similar to Shizhen, Perihan and Tom Harner did their PhD in Lancaster with Kevin Jones; therefore they are 师姐/师兄. Paromita did her PhD in our group from 2006-2009. This time she came with two PhD students of her. Akriti Ashesh is a PhD student from Bihar University of India, and her supervisor is Linthoi (centred in the picture) who worked in our lab for her PhD in around 2009. Amandeep works with Tom Harner in Environment Canada responsible for the GAPS network; and she is originally from Punjab of India, sharing the same language and culture with Jabir who is also from Punjab but on the Pakistan side. We stayed in a nice hotel and enjoyed the 7-days symposium. We also took opportunity to visit Istanbul . Strong exotic experience and nice science and social events!
Roland is always catching us.
