Amos Tai

Dr. Amos P. K. Tai is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Amos obtained his B.Sc. in Environmental Engineering Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering from Harvard University, and was a Croucher Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT before he joined CUHK in 2013. Amos specializes in atmospheric chemistry and physics, ecoclimatology, biosphere-atmosphere interactions, and sustainable agriculture and forestry. His research combines Earth system modeling and data analytics to address pressing sustainability issues, including the impacts of air pollution and climate change on forest ecosystems and agriculture, and how food system transformation and better land management can mitigate climate change and environmental pollution. His work has been published in top-ranking journals in the atmospheric and environmental sciences including Nature Climate Change, Nature Food, Nature Communications and Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, and earned him the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Research Award for Young Scientists, Early Career Award from the Research Grants Council (Hong Kong), Science Faculty Young Researcher Award, and founding membership of the Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences. Amos is also a passionate educator, having received the prestigious CUHK Vice-Chancellor Exemplary Teaching Award and Faculty of Science Exemplary Teaching Awards, and concurrently serving as the Associate Director of the Office of University General Education at CUHK. Amos delights in promoting science, environmental and sustainability education for the general public, regularly giving talks in schools and public avenues and participating in many TV and radio programs. He has provided professional consulting services to government departments including the Highways Department, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, and Environmental Protection Department. He currently serves as a Board Governor of Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong).

My Sustainability Goals for 2024:

I would love to particularly see that social and environmental responsibility becomes an imperative objective in all businesses; that climate justice is widely recognized as a core aspect of climate action in public discourse; that supermarkets, retailers and restaurants substantially reduce their food packaging and food waste before sales; that plant-based diets and zero food waste become a fixture in local food culture; that the poorest people in Hong Kong can be food-secure; and that Hong Kong’s food systems can have much lower environmental footprints while bringing its citizens better health, better enjoyment, and better equity.