The University's School of Science and Technology has a strong track record in wetland research, and back in 2019, it received an extra impetus from the Research Grants Council — a HK$9.3 million Institutional Development Scheme Research Infrastructure Grant in support of the establishment of University Research Facilities (URF) for basic and applied research on coastal wetlands in the Greater Bay Area. Combining existing equipment and new acquisitions, the URF are turning the University into a stronger base of coastal wetland research and institutional collaboration in the region.

On 3 September, a Seminar on Coastal Wetland Research and Management brought together experts in the field to provide updates on their work. Guest speakers included Dr Carmen Or from WWF-Hong Kong, Prof. Joe Lee from the School of Life Sciences of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ms Xu Wansu from Mangrove Wetland Conservation Foundation, Prof. Chen Luzhen from the College of Environment and Ecology of Xiamen University, and Prof. Simon Lee from the Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences of the University of Macau.