Yao Tandong in his lab (File photo/Xinhua)
Chinese Professor Yao Tandong has been awarded the 2017 Vega Medal by the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG), becoming the first scientist in Asia to receive the award.
Yao was cited for his contributions to research on glaciers and the environment on the Tibetan Plateau, said SSAG.
Yao is an academic with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and also a researcher with the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Institute.
The Vega Medal was created in 1881 and is awarded to a geographer every three years. Handed out by the king of Sweden, it is considered the "Nobel Prize" of geography.
