Prof Xu Jie serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the Faculty of Science and Technology, and the Interim Director of Centre for Regional Oceans. He obtained his PhD degree in marine environmental science from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2007. Before joined the UM last year, he was a deputy director and researcher at the State Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Environment, South China Sea Institute of Oceanography, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on nutrients (such as nitrogen, oxygen) and plankton in the ocean, which play key roles in marine and global ecology.
As the base of the food chain, nutrient in the ocean is food producer and an important element in earth’s climate balance. Prof Xu said that it enables the growth and reproduction of algae and plankton in the ocean. In addition, plankton is eaten by small marine organisms which are in turn eaten by other larger organisms. Therefore, the amount of nutrients determines the level of food production also the biodiversity of ocean. Without nutrients, entire food chain around the world would likely collapse. To save the earth from climate change, algae can absorb billions of tons of CO2 every year is extremely important to reduce CO2 emissions. Prof Xu explained, “It may take ten or even decades for planting trees, but as the growth of algae is fast, it is more effective than a tree at fighting climate change.”
Prof Xu shared the reason of studying marine environmental science, he studied about ocean when he was a master student. Although ocean provides large amounts of natural resources, plays an important role in removing CO2 and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, general public does not has enough awareness of its functions, it makes Prof Xu determined to explore this specific area. However, a challenge of doing research in Macao is that it is hard to organise sea expedition, some expeditions in mainland Chines have been postponed under the epidemic, makes it harder to collect samples. For this reason, Prof Xu now focuses more on local coastal research. He explained that Macao is densely populated, there is a large volume of discharged sewage. He wishes to maintain the water quality and the health of marine ecology by controlling the substances in the sewage, in order to contribute to environmental protection and marine resources management of Macao.
In regards of teaching at UM, Prof Xu said, “The international environment of UM provides a broader platform for ocean research, making it easier to carry out external cooperation and recruit potential doctoral students. Also, UM has excellent scholars in different field, we can carry out high-quality interdisciplinary research.” For students who are interested in conducting research, he shared his experiences that independent research skills, writing and reporting skills are very helpful in their future career. In the near future, Prof Xu hopes to better serve local community with cutting-edge research and high-quality articles, so as to build a better marine ecological environment for Macao.
More about Prof Xu Jie and his research: https://www.fst.um.edu.mo/people/xujiest/
徐杰教授是科技學院土木及環境工程系副教授，同時也是區域海洋中心代主任。2007年於香港科技大學獲海洋環境科學博士學位。去年在澳大任教前，一直在中國科學院南海海洋研究所熱帶海洋環境國家重點實驗室擔任副主任及研究員。他的研究方向是海洋中的營養物質 (如氮元素、氧元素) 以及浮游生物，而這些營養物及浮游生物在海洋乃至全球生態上皆扮演關鍵的角色。
海洋中的營養物質作為食物鏈的底層，是食物製造者同時也是平衡全球氣候的重要元素，徐教授表示它令海洋中的藻類植物及浮游生物得以生長繁殖，而浮游生物又作為海洋裡小型生物的食物，大型生物又以小型生物為食，若沒有營養物質，全球的食物鏈都會崩塌。此外，營養物質的多寡決定了食物產量多少，同時也決定了海洋的生物多樣性。在平衡全球氣候上，依靠營養物質為生的藻類每年吸收全球的二氧化碳多達數十億噸，能有效緩解一大部分的碳排放。徐教授解釋說: 「種植樹木可能需時十年，甚至數十年，但海洋中的藻類生長迅速，有助吸收更多空氣中的碳排放量，平衡全球氣候，減緩全球暖化問題。」
談及為何選擇研究海洋，徐教授分享自己讀碩士時才首次踏足此領域，縱使海洋提供各種天然資源並有著影響氣候、緩解全球暖化、吸收碳排放的重要功能，但當時普遍對海洋的了解仍很陌生，因此徐教授才決心在此領域發掘更多。但研究上仍有不少挑戰，因為研究海洋需要出海採集樣本，疫情之下，考察次數驟減同時也較難一同參與內地船隻出海考察。為此，徐教授目前專注更多在本地沿海研究，他解釋說澳門人口密集，城市中的物質流動大，所排出的污水量也非常龐大，他希望透過控制污水中的物質，保持水質及海洋生態健康，為澳門環境保護及海洋資源管理作貢獻。
至於在澳大任教的原因，徐教授說: 「澳大國際化的環境為研究海洋提供更廣更闊的平台，更容易開展對外合作及招攬具潛力的博士生。另外，澳大有來自不同領域的優秀學者，透過交流合作，可以創造更多高質量高水平的跨學科研究。」對於有志從事學術研究的學子，他認為獨立研究能力、寫作及報告成果的技巧對往後很有幫助，立志研究的學生可強化這些技能。未來，徐教授希望在澳大建立更多前沿研究、發表高質量的文章，更好地服務澳門社會，建立更好的海洋生態環境。
更多有關徐教授的研究及資訊: https://www.fst.um.edu.mo/people/xujiest/
Xu Jie 徐杰
Study about Marine Nutrients主要研究海洋營養物質