Researcher Feng Xinbin, the President of the Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGCAS), was awarded the Kathryn R. Mahaffey Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 ICMGP annual conference for his outstanding contributions to environmental mercury pollution and cycling research.

The ICMGP is a crucial academic conference focusing on mercury research and addressing global mercury pollution challenges. Feng Xinbin is the first Chinese and the seventh scientist globally to receive this honor, nominated by renowned environmental scientist and educator Dr. Jerry Lin.

With 30 years of research in mercury, Feng Xinbin has focused on critical ecological and environmental issues that need to be addressed urgently in China, including mercury sources, migration, biogeochemical cycling, and pollution reduction. He has published 428 papers in top journals with over 25,000 citations and led over 35 projects on mercury emissions, migration, pollution, and health risks.

Through a series of innovative research, Professor Feng Xinbin and his team have provided scientific evidence for the prevention and control of soil mercury pollution in Guizhou, opened up a new situation in the environmental geochemical research of mercury, and contributed scientific and technological strength to China's assessment of the effectiveness of international mercury compliance.

His winning of this award is not only a reflection of his personal scientific research ability, but also an important showing of China's environmental geochemistry on the international stage, pushing the national environmental science strategy to a higher level and wider areas.