On 1 March 2012, CEODE was informed that its application for the "Thousand Talents" Program for high-level foreign experts was accepted, with Dr. Natarajan Ishwaran being CEODE’s first successful nominee.

The "Thousand Talents" Program for high-level foreign experts was officially launched in 2011 by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs. China plans to recruit 500-1000 high-level foreign expertswithin 10 years, and accepts 50-100 experts per year.

Ishwaran received his Ph.D.in the United States and has been working in UNESCO for more than 20 years. His professional appointments include Chief and Senior Programme Specialist of the UNESCO Natural Heritage Section and Programme Specialist of Environmental Sciences. Currently, he is Director of the Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences of UNESCO and Secretary of the Man and Biosphere Reserve Program. His remarkableachievementsinthefieldofnatural heritageand biosphere reserves have earned him a distinguished international reputation.

This year’s "Thousand Talents" Program begins in themiddle of the year, and the implementationperiod is 3 years. In this period, Ishwaran will focus on the construction of the International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage under the Auspices of UNESCO (HIST), hosted by CEODE, and the promotion of cooperation and exchange between HIST, UNESCO, and UNESCO member countries, especially countries in Southeast Asia.

Dr. Natarajan Ishwaran gives an address at the UNESCO Fourth Training Course  in the Eastern Asian Biosphere Research Network, held in Beijing in April 2011.

(Image by CEODE)