The College of Resources and Environment, formerly known as Analytical Testing Research Centre, was established in 1986, which served as the cradle for the birth of reservoir geochemistry in China. The college comprises three departments: Geochemistry, Hydrology and Environment, and Resource and Environmental Big Data Engineering, along with the Analytical Testing Research Institute and administrative offices such as the College Office, Academic Affairs Office, Student Affairs Office, and Youth League Committee.
The school boasts a robust faculty of 104 members, including 86 full-time teachers and 7 experimental instructors. Among full-time faculty, 96.4% hold doctoral degrees, with 23 professors and 36 associate professors. The school has 12 doctoral supervisors and 48 master’s supervisors.
Notable faculty members include: 1 “Dual-appointed Academician”, 3 recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 1 CAS Hundred Talents Program scholar, 3 national Distinguished Professors, 1 provincial full-time special professor, 1 provincial top-notch talent, 1 provincial outstanding young talent, 3 “Chutian Scholars” special professors, 8 Chutian Scholars, 5 visiting professors, 2 experts receiving allowances from the State Council and Hubei Government, 2 young and middle-aged experts with outstanding contributions, 2 cross-century academic leaders of China National Petroleum Corporation and Hubei Province, 2 academic backbones and 1 top-tier talent for the new century of Hubei Province.
The College has a full range of education levels, offering undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs, and with eligibility for master’s recommendation exemption and combined master’s-doctoral training program. There is 1 National and 1 Provincial First-Class Undergraduate Major Construction Sites, 5 First-level Discipline Master’s Degree Authorizations, 1 First-level Discipline Doctor’s Degree Authorizations and 1 Postdoctoral Research Station. The undergraduate majors of the college include Geochemistry, Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering, Resource Environmental Big Data Engineering and Environmental Ecological Engineering.
Geochemistry is a provincial First-class Undergraduate Major Construction Site, and has formed the research directions of organic geochemistry, hydrocarbon and reservoir formation, unconventional oil and gas geology, geochemistry of mineral deposits, and new technologies and methods of analysis and testing. Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering is a National First-class Undergraduate Major Construction Site, has formed the research points of hydrology and water resources, groundwater science and engineering, river and lake environmental protection and ecological restoration of oilfield water environment. The Resource Environment Big Data Engineering is built on the basis of the Earth Science discipline which is ranked top 1% in ESI global ranking of the university, with a high starting point and obvious characteristics of “oil and gas”.
With cutting-edge scientific research capabilities, the college hosts 5 provincial and ministerial-level key laboratories, including: Key Laboratory of Exploration Technologies for Oil and Gas Resources, Hubei Key Laboratory of Petroleum Geochemistry and Environment, Experimental Teaching Centre for Exploration and Development, the Branch of CNPC Key Laboratory of Petroleum Geochemistry, and the Branch of CNPC Key Laboratory of Natural Gas Accumulation and Development.
The Geochemistry Laboratory (Analytical Testing Research Institute) of Yangtze University passed China Metrology Accreditation in 1999, and became one of the internationally recognised domestic organic geochemistry analysis centers. The laboratory has more than 20 sets of large-scale equipment valued at more than 30 million yuan, such as the first chromatography-mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry analyser in Asia and the third one in the world, isotope mass spectrometry, electric inclusions temperature measurement system, gas chromatography, electron scanning microscope, microphotometer, which provide a powerful support for teaching and scientific research. In the past 5 years, the college have completed nearly 100 national, provincial and ministerial vertical projects, including 19 Natural Science Foundation of China projects and 22 national key research projects. There are nearly 500 horizontal projects, and the research fund in 2024 exceeds 45 million yuan. The college has won one Third Prize of National Scientific and Technological Progress, and multiple provincial awards such as the first, second and third prizes of provincial and ministerial scientific and technological progress.
The college is rich in education resources. In order to vigorously cultivate innovation and practical hands-on skills of students, the college has built a number of large outdoor scientific research pilot bases and off-campus teaching bases. There are more than 10 off-campus internship teaching bases, such as Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province, Yangtze River Water Resource Commission, Hubei Provincial Academy of Environmental Science. In addition, the college has cooperated with the Sino-French Wuhan Ecological Demonstration city, Wuhan Municipal Lake Administration, and Caidian District Water Affairs Bureau, and constructed the outdoor teaching and research pilot base of “Mingyuan Lake” in Houguan Lake of the college campus.
With outstanding quality of talents, the college has attached great importance to undergraduate education over these years, and has been adhering to the development idea of “on the basis of besic undergraduate education”, with more open, more integrated, more active, more efficient thoughts and actions, taking the initiative to serve the national strategy for the sustainable development of resources and the environment. The college is committed to the task of cultivating talents, producing results, and serving the country, and has achieved outstanding results in teaching and talent cultivation. The proportion of undergraduate graduates obtaining a master’s degree in one time stays stabilized at more than 55% in the past three years, and the employment rate of graduates, which are widely praised by employees, maintains at more than 95% for many years.
