my first lesson | "when i grow up, i will become you" zhao weishu: i believe that there will be more and more people joining the research on extreme life
2024-09-10
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china national radio shanghai september 10th news (reporter tang qiyun han xiaoyu) "this is a piece of precious basalt that i brought up from the bottom of the mariana trench in the pacific ocean in november 2021 on the 'struggler' using a robotic arm. you can see its layers are very clear." zhao weishu, a young teacher at the school of life sciences and technology of shanghai jiao tong university, pointed to her teaching aid, the basalt, and showed it to reporters.
on the eve of teachers' day on september 10, zhao weishu was busy preparing for the general education course on extreme biology in the new semester in his office.
zhao weishu shows the precious basalt she brought up from the bottom of the mariana trench (photo by han xiaoyu, cctv.com)
in addition to being seen on campus, zhao weishu also appears in the mariana trench, south china sea cold springs, qinghai-tibet plateau hot springs, mount everest mountaineering base camp and other sea and field scientific research fronts. from the ocean to the desert, from magou to mount everest, the "struggler" manned submersible normalized scientific research project in which zhao weishu participated was rated as one of the top ten scientific and technological advances in china's oceans and lakes in 2021.
at school, the courses zhao weishu teaches revolve around extreme organisms, focusing mainly on the survival, adaptation and evolution of life under extreme environmental conditions (including the deep sea, abyss, plateau, polar regions, deserts, and overseas).
"i was an undergraduate student when i first came into contact with 'extreme organisms'. professor xiao xiang, a pioneer in china's deep-sea microbial research, came to the podium of shanghai jiao tong university from his research institute to teach this course for the first time. it was the first time for professor xiao to stand on the podium, and it was also the first time i learned about the field of extreme organisms." zhao weishu could not hide his excitement when talking about his "origin" with extreme organisms.
zhao weishu later learned that xiao xiang had taken my country's manned submersibles to complete many manned deep-sea scientific expeditions and had been to the deepest points of the mariana trench, the yap trench and the kermadec trench, which is why his class was so "different." "at that time, mr. xiao did not teach in a traditional way. he used his own various sea experiences as the main theme of the class, which made me very envious and i also wanted to enter this research field and live such a life."
from this class, zhao weishu determined his research direction, successfully became xiao xiang's doctoral student, and joined her research team to explore. "i am very happy now, and i feel like 'i will be like you when i grow up'."
in july this year, the manned submersible "deep sea warrior" returned from a scientific expedition to the cold springs in the south china sea (zhao weishu is the first on the right) (photo provided by zhao weishu and released by china national radio)
zhao weishu was impressed when he recalled the first time he took over the teaching baton from xiao xiang and stood on the podium. "when i first taught this course to students, there was a red moon spectacle. the moon was very big and beautiful, and it was very popular among students. i happened to introduce this matter when i was talking about the influence of the right time, right place and right people on organisms. everyone was very happy to listen. at the end of the course, we went outside the teaching building to 'appreciate the moon' together."
starting from 2021, with the continuous sorting out of the course knowledge framework and logical thinking, and the continuous improvement of the discipline's theoretical framework, zhao weishu and xiao xiang gradually "upgraded" this general course for all majors in the direction of extreme biology into a professional course in the direction of life sciences.
"'extreme biology' is a new course we built ourselves. this course can integrate our cutting-edge extreme life science research with the basic biological knowledge learned by students, helping everyone to make a better transition and transformation from classroom learning to actual scientific research." zhao weishu said.
in order to teach this cutting-edge and niche "new course" well, zhao weishu has accumulated a lot of teaching tools, including models of manned submersibles that scientific research teams need to use when going to extreme environments, high-pressure test tubes that can simulate the water pressure at the bottom of the mariana trench, and small oxygen supply equipment that can be carried to the top of mount everest. in addition, zhao weishu also made models of extreme organisms by himself.
"during the course, i found that some students find it difficult to understand special extreme life because they have never seen it and it is hard for them to imagine it." zhao weishu held up a one-meter-long transparent tube and introduced, "this is a model i made myself. it is a creature produced by hydrothermal fluids on the seabed, called a tube worm. i used ostrich feathers on the top to show how it floats on the seabed facing the heat flow. if it encounters danger, it will shrink to avoid being caught by its natural enemies."
the extreme biological model made by zhao weishu (photo taken by cctv reporter tang qiyun)
talking about the "first lesson" of the new semester, zhao weishu happily issued a "big preview": "our first lesson of this semester is on the first monday night of school. the latest research results have been added to the course. for example, i went to the south china sea cold spring for scientific research in july. there are many interesting creatures there. i will bring the photos, videos, and real objects of this expedition to class. i believe my students will like it very much."
teachers are the foundation of education and the source of its development. in the final of the 7th national college young teachers teaching competition, zhao weishu won the first prize in the science group with her outstanding performance. this experience was a great encouragement to her, as a niche subject was introduced to more people through the young teachers competition.
"although i am the only one standing on the podium, behind me is actually the continuous exploration of extreme environments by our country's scientific community, the powerful national equipment we use to go to the sky and into the sea, the heroic deeds of those who 'prefer to take risks rather than desert', and the wonderful stories of extreme life that can live on the top of snow-capped mountains, in the abyss of the sea, and in ice and fire. i am very fortunate to be able to bring these to students through me. although our research may be 'unprecedented', i believe that there will be more 'comers' joining in the research on extreme life!" said zhao weishu.
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