On August 27, 2022, the 21st Ecology Conference of China was held in Gui'an, Guiyang. At the conference, the Ecological Society of China (ESC) presented "MA Shijun Ecological Science Achievement Award" to Mr. SHEN Shanmin.

The award, established in 2006, is the highest academic award that ESC can bestow upon an ecologist who have made great contributions to ecological theory and applications in China. The previous winners of the award were members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences SUN Ruyong, JIANG Youxu, ZHANG Xinshi, FANG Jingyun, FU Bojie and KANG Le, and the member of Chinese Academy of Engineering LI Wenhua. Mr. SHEN Shanmin, was the only winner of the award this year.

Mr. SHEN Shanmin is a famous agroecologist and soil scientist, and the former director of the Institute of Applied Ecology (IAE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was the main founder of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Ecosystem Research Network (CERN), and one of the first prize winners of the National Science and Technology Progress Award in 2012. He took the lead in water cycle research in black soil farmlands, established the dual-index method for predicting spring drought, and successfully forecasted two major spring droughts in 1965 and 1968. Mr. SHEN put forward soil fertility management strategies for sustainable agriculture in China. He founded the Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, and established the Shenyang Farmland Ecosystem National Field Observation and Research Station.

On behalf of Mr. SHEN Shanmin, director of IAE ZHU Jiaojun accepted the award and delivered a speech at the conference.