The Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMHE, CAS) and University of Maryland, College Park, USA (UMD) signed a cooperation agreement in Chengdu on October 17, 2012, which initiates a new phase of collaboration between two sides.

 
 The cooperation agreement signing ceremony between IMHE and UMD.(picture by IMHE)
The agreement was signed by the IMHE director Dr. Deng Wei and Dr. John R. G. Townshend, dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences with the aim to strengthen science and technology cooperation and solidify the partnership by supporting personnel exchange, sharing data and conducting joint international cooperative projects.

A long and wide cooperation have been carried out between the two sides. In this year, Professor Huang Chengquan from UMD took part in the International Partnership Program for Creative Research Teams hosted by IMHE. In addition, both sides also successfully held the 1st international symposium of land remote sensing in Chengdu this May. The signature of the cooperation agreement between two sides was attributed to the previous visit of Dr. DENG to UMD this May. During that visit, both sides confirmed to strengthen the cooperation to a higher level and sign such an agreement in October, 2012.

The University of Maryland, College Park founded in 1856 is a public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County,Maryland. For the Department of Geography, it has many excellent scientists and ranked 3rd out of 49 Geography Departments in the 2010 NRC Rankings. This is an outstanding achievement and confirms that Maryland Geography is one of the leading departments in the nation.