From our correspondent — On May 30, the selection results of the 4th National Innovation Pioneer Award were officially announced at the Commendation Conference marking the 10th National Science and Technology Workers’ Day and the presentation of the 4th National Innovation Pioneer Award. Professor Bi Yinli from China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, Executive Director of the State Key Laboratory of Coal Fine Exploration and Intelligent Development and national high-level talent, was awarded the National Innovation Pioneer Certificate for her outstanding contributions and innovative achievements in ecological restoration of arid and semi-arid coal mining areas in western China.

Jointly established by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, China Association for Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the National Innovation Pioneer Award is conferred once every three years. It recognizes collectives and individuals who have made remarkable contributions in basic research and frontier exploration, major equipment and engineering breakthroughs, achievement transformation, innovation and entrepreneurship, and social services. Professor Bi Yinli’s award represents high recognition of her more than 20 years of dedication to scientific research in western mining areas. It also marks another landmark achievement of the University in advancing green mine construction and engineering technology progress.

Professor Bi Yinli has long devoted herself to research on geological environment management and ecological restoration in western mining areas. Targeting the ecological characteristics of arid and semi-arid coal mining regions in western China and responding to national strategies for large-scale energy development and ecological security in western China, she has travelled extensively across northwest China and coalfields along the Yellow River over the past two decades. She systematically revealed the mechanism of microbial restoration in arid and semi-arid western coal mining areas and developed new microbial restoration technologies for mining sites with complex geological conditions. She tackled major ecological restoration challenges arising from intensive coal exploitation superimposed on fragile ecosystems under extreme drought conditions, developed multiple green and efficient biological inoculant restoration products, and established an efficient, low-cost and replicable technological model for ecological reconstruction of damaged mining areas. Her team has built 12 integrated industry-university-research-application demonstration bases for ecological restoration in coal energy bases of Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Ningxia, with a total promoted area reaching hundreds of thousands of mu.

Professor Bi Yinli has presided over more than 50 national projects including national key R&D programs and major corporate research projects. Her research outcomes have won two Second-Class National Science and Technology Progress Awards, two provincial/ministerial special grand prizes and nine first-class prizes. She has received many national and provincial honors such as the Sun Yueqi Energy Grand Prize, China Youth Science and Technology Award, National March 8th Red Banner Pacesetter, and Advanced Individual of China Ecological Civilization Award. She has published over 300 high-quality papers and been granted more than 50 invention patents. This award vividly demonstrates the University’s commitment to organized research and interdisciplinary integration supported by national research platforms such as the State Key Laboratory of Coal Fine Exploration and Intelligent Development.