Robert Reisz and Chinese officials at a ceremony to open the Dinosaur Evolution Research Centre

Robert Reisz becomes a lifetime Honorary Professor of Jilin university

During Robert Reisz's recent trip to Jilin University, China, they celebrated the university's 70th anniversary and Robert became a lifetime Honorary Professor of the university. At the same time, the first Dinosaur Evolution Research Centre (DERC) was opened, and Robert also became Honorary Director of DERC. Jilin has a long history of palaeontology, including papers on the oldest flowering plants, dinosaurs, and other fossils, but has recently lost ground. With some help from Robert, the new centre is slated to reinvigorate the program in conjunction with an MOU that Robert organized between Jilin University and University of Toronto.

At the same time, the group went to a new dinosaur site that was discovered during excavations for new apartment buildings in the town of Yanji, a few kilometres from the North Korean border. They are exploring the possibility of starting excavations at this site, right in Yanji city. The excavations for the new apartment complex have been stopped because the dinosaur materials were found.