Prof. Dr. Xingmin Meng is a professor, deputy secretary of the Party Committee, and dean of the School of Geological Sciences and Mineral Resources of Lanzhou University. He graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London, with a PhD in Physical Geography in 1998, and from the Department of Geology, Xi'an Institute of Geology (now Chang'an University) with a Bachelor of Science in Geology in 1984. His research interests include environmental geology, geological disaster monitoring, early warning and prevention.