From November 20 to 23, 2020, the 18th International Symposium on Geo-disaster Reduction / 4th Gu Dezhen Lecture was grandly held in the institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Science.

At the opening of this conference, our young teacher Wang Yufeng, associate researcher, won the2019 Outstanding Young Scientist Award from the International Consortium on Geo-disaster Reduction (ICGdR). Academician Peng Jianbing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor Tang Huiming,chairman of Engineering Geology Commission of China Geology Society, presented awards to Wang Yufeng and other four young scientists. The ICGdR Outstanding Young Scientist Award is aim to reward the outstanding young scientists (under 40 years old) who have made outstanding contributions in academic research related tolandslides, debris flows, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and other geological disasters. The ICGdR, with the support of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Integrated Disaster Reduction (IRDR) Program of the United Nations Disaster Reduction Agency, the Japanese government and related international academic institutions, has long been active in the field of academic research related to geological disasters. It currently has five continents in the world. More than 80 member units are world-renowned non-governmental organizations in the field of geological disasters and disaster reduction.

In recent years, Associate Researcher Wang Yufeng has presided over and undertaken many scientific projects, such as the key projects, the international cooperation projects and the major special projects of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Second Tibet Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research. Some significant work has been carried out on the occurrence and evolution of rock avalanche, and innovative research results that have attracted the attention of international counterparts have been achieved in the geological and environmental background of its formation, mechanism and risk assessment technology. Her main academic contributions and innovative research results are reflected in the following aspects:

(1) It reveals the "velocity-dependent friction weakening mechanism" of rock avalanche.It is proposed for the first time in the world that the thermal pressurization andmoisture fluidization induced by friction heating in the basal facies of the rock avalanche plays an important role in explaining the significant weakening of dynamic shear strength during the propagation of rock avalanches. This result was published in the world-renowned geoscience natural index journal JGR-Solid Earth in 2017, and was selected as the “Research Spotlight” by the US “Earth Space Science News (Eos)”. The comment pointed out: “The results have implications for researchers in many geologic disciplines, including landslide dynamics, earthquake mechanics, and risk assessment." This research result was also evaluated by Professor Wu Faquan, the Secretary-General of the Engineering Geology Commission, as one of the most prominent developments in engineering geology in the past decade at the closing ceremony of the 2018 National Engineering Geology Annual Conference in China.

(2) Solved the long-term unresolved scientific problem, the "volume effect" of rock avalanche, and revealed the dynamic mechanism of "stress-dependent friction weakening" of rock avalanche. It is proposed for the first time in the world that the synergistic effect of the water vaporization induced by frictional heating and the permeability of basal facies in avalanche that decreases with increasing normal stress should be contributed to the “volume effect” of rock avalanches. The result was published in 2018 JGR-Solid Earth, and was highly praised by the reviewers: “My feeling is that the set of experiments and results presented by Wang et al in this manuscript are an original contribution to the field and form a milestone in the study of large run-out rock flows Hence I recommend publication in JGR-Solid Earth”.

(3) A comprehensive interpretation of the sedimentological characteristics and emplacement mechanisms of giant rock avalanche in the key areas of the Tibet Plateau, such as the Yadong-Gulu rift, the Maoyaba Basin on the Western Sichuan Plateau, and the Gonggeer Mountain Extension Fault Zone in the Pamir Plateau. The research results provide a scientific basis and theoretical support for the construction of the calculation methods of key parameters of potential rock avalanche in the transportation corridors such as the Sichuan-Tibet Railway. Some of the research results were highly praised by Professor Dave Petley, a famous scientist in the field of international landslides and the vice president of the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, who wrote: "I have not seen this spectacular rock avalanche in the literature before this paper; it is an excellent addition to the inventory of such events.It is interesting to note that this means that the landslide could have high mobility without needing liquefaction or anything more exotic, a finding that is important in the context of understanding other large events”.

Academician Peng Jianbing and Prof. Tang Huiming, Chairman of Engineering Geology Commission of China Geology Society presented the prizes to the winners

Award Certificate of Associate Researcher Wang Yufeng