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Mr Eric Wong
   
 
Year of Study : 1994 - 1995
Subject of Study : MSc. Environmental Science
Title of Thesis : A Study of Biological Effects of the Silver Burn (a urban stream in the City of Aberdeen) on the Don Estuary

Immediately after my undergraduate study of B.Sc. (Hons.) in Environmental Science at the University of Hong Kong and a 2-month trip round the Continental Europe, I started my memorable year in Aberdeen with the Environmental Scholarship.

For me, a guy grew up in a crowded and noisy city, it was quite an experience to adapt myself to be a student living in such a quiet and peaceful place, Aberdeen, over one night.  I found it was hard to adjust myself to Aberdeen at the very beginning, especially when I arrived at the ‘empty’ campus 10 days before the University term started.  Interestingly, what I miss Aberdeen the most at this moment is its peaceful and relaxing living atmosphere.

During the year, as an environmental student, I was really impressed by the rich wildlife and spectacular scenery in Scotland.  Seals in River Don mouth and Skye, dolphins in Cromarty, puffins in Dunnet Head, red deer and pheasants in Deeside, breath taking landscape in the Highlands and the sunshine at 23:00 in John O’Groats.  All these beautiful things further strengthened my commitment to protect the natural environment.

I was lucky to be the Scholar being able to involve in the Quincentenary Celebration activities in Aberdeen, during which the Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales visited the University.  I was even lucky enough to met both of them closely just in front of College House, a 200-year Georgian House where I stayed during the year.  Another memorable event was that as the only Hong Kong Chinese in the Quincentenary Tree Planting Ceremony organized by the Aberdeen University Hong Kong Association (AUHKA), I represented the Association in a tree planting with Lord Wilson of Tillyorn GCMC at King’s Lawn.

The year in Aberdeen is definitely stimulating and has widened my horizon in terms of both environmental and personal matters.  By providing effective conceptual training, which I had not received in Hong Kong, the M.Sc. course was constructive, practical and made me more environmentally knowledgeable.

Shortly after my return to Hong Kong in late 1995, I joined the World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong (WWF HK) for one and a half year and was responsible to compile the first Environmental Profile for Hong Kong.  It was a great opportunity for me to explore myself in understanding the Hong Kong environment.  After receiving a few months of ‘harsh training’ in an environmental consultancy firm and the Customs and Excise Department, I joined the Agriculture and Fisheries Department as a Forestry Officer.  Being posted as an Ecological Assessment Officer under the Conservation Branch, I am mainly responsible to study and comment on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for development proposals and planning studies in respect of ecological issues.

To make balance between the endless development and the used-to-be underestimated importance of nature conservation in Hong Kong, there is still a long way for us to go in achieving an efficient system which can preserve or even enhance our nature environment in Hong Kong.  The Environmental Scholarship does help in the process by providing local young people opportunities to be better trained by the well developed environmental study programme in Aberdeen.