In the coming decade we anticipate this will become a major problem for Hong Kong. In recent times, Hong Kong has developed a growing public awareness of environmental issues, not only as a result of concerns regarding contaminants and their effects, but also through continuing and expanding environmental education. The Hong Kong Government has recognised that environmental sustainability is vital to the socioeconomic development

of Hong Kong. To this end, in 2004, a group of marine environmental http://www.selleckchem.com/screening/gpcr-library.html scientists from six Hong Kong universities were jointly awarded one of only eight “Area of Excellence” research centers in Hong Kong. This center, initially funded a total of $US8.7 million by the University Grants Committee, is known as the Centre for Marine Environmental Research and Innovative Technology – “MERIT”, and is the only “Area of Excellence” dealing with environmental matters. The MERIT team, by the very nature of the venture, is multi-disciplinary, comprising 29 biologists, chemists, physicists, engineers and statisticians from six local universities working closely with nine world class international scientists. MERIT has focused its research on the development of novel chemical, biological and engineering technologies for monitoring,

selleck chemical assessing and controlling anthropogenic activities in our marine environment. At this conference, several members of the MERIT team (many of whom are students) took the opportunity to share some of their exciting findings, which we believe will have a global impact on marine pollution research. Our success in marine environmental

research has also resulted in recognition within the East Asian region and China. The United Nations, via the East Asian Seas Partnership Council, has designated MERIT as the “Regional Centre of Excellence in Marine Pollution”, to play a leading and advisory role on marine pollution issues in the region, and this designation was officially endorsed by its 11 member Arachidonate 15-lipoxygenase countries. In 2009, the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Peoples’ Republic of China approved the formation of a “State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution”, which is based on the strengths of MERIT, consisting of members from the six local universities and located at City University of Hong Kong. Such recognition of our research efforts has not only made us exceptionally proud, but also inspired us to venture further towards the cutting edge of marine pollution and ecotoxicology research in order to make a real and significant contribution to managing our marine environments in both China and the region. This 6th Conference provided a forum for environmental scientists to meet and discuss research findings, as well as the latest scientific advancements and technologies. The Conference series aims to advance our understanding of local, regional and global marine pollution, with the hope that such problems may be more easily solved in the future.