China Vitae

Biography

Zhang Xinshi, male, Han nationality, is a native of Henan Province. His ancestral home
is in Gaotang, Shangdong Province. He graduated from the Forestry Department of Beijing Forestry University in 1955. In 1985, he obtained a doctor of ecology from Cornell University.

An academic with extensive experience in teaching and research, Zhang has directed science programs at Xinjiang University, Xinjiang August 1 Agricultural College, and at the Chinese Academy of Sciences . Among his positions include director of the forestry teaching and research section at Xinjiang University, dean of the forestry department at Xinjiang August 1 Agricultural College, and director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Biology.

In 1986, Zhang became a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany and four years later became director of the institute . He became academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences Division of Biological Sciences in 1992.

Zhang has received considerable recognition for his research on vegetation ecology. He established China‘s first analysis and management laboratory of vegetational ecology; he proposed a zonation theory of vegetation of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. His research has won him several awards, including a 1978 1st Class Science and Technology Achievement Award from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1989, he received a national citation for his contributions to the development of the country‘s science and technology.

In 1995, he became the Vice-Chairman of the State Natural Science Fund Committee.