HKBU ocean expert Professor Qiu Jianwen explores little-known aquatic life in Hong Kong's Lantau waters with funding from the LCF

We are delighted to announce that Professor Qiu Jianwen from the Department of Biology of Faculty of Science has been awarded funding more than HK$2.3 million by the Lantau Conservation Fund (LCF) for his awarded project, "Diversity, abundance and distribution of epibenthic fauna from western Lantau waters".

Professor Qiu's study focuses on the little-known marine life inhabiting the seabed of Lantau Island's western waters, an area offering significant potential for scientific discovery. The project aims to document over 100 species, including Cnidaria (gorgonians, soft corals, hard corals), Mollusca (gastropods, bivalves, cephalopods), Crustacea (crabs, shrimp, mantis shrimp), Annelida and Pisces, by combining visual surveys with advanced DNA barcoding. It will also pioneer the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis to identify species from water samples. This work will provide essential data to support conservation efforts, inform sustainable development plans, and advance modern biodiversity monitoring techniques.

Distinguished ocean scholar Professor Qiu examines aquatic biodiversity, ecology, and genomics. His work encompasses deep-sea biodiversity and genetic adaptation, as well as benthic and coral reef ecology, documenting their changes in response to environmental and human-induced stressors.

The Lantau Conservation Fund (LCF) is set up by the HKSAR Government in 2018 to promote conservation of Lantau, and to pursue minor local improvement works in villages and communities in support of conservation initiatives.

It supports projects that would contribute to the overall conservation of Lantau, raise community awareness on the conservation of Lantau, and engage the community to put conservation into practice, with a view to fostering a quality living environment for the current generation and beyond.

We congratulate Professor Qiu on his outstanding achievements, which demonstrate HKBU's ongoing commitment to excellence in environmental research and sustainability.