The history of the College of Life and Environmental Science can be traced back to the Biochemistry Department of Wenzhou Normal College established in 1958. It was renamed the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences in 1999 and the College of Life and Environmental Science in 2003. Currently, the College has two teaching units, the Department of Biology and the Department of Environment, and manages two independent research institutions, the Institute of Life Sciences and the Institute of Virology.

There are more than 150 academic and administrative staff. 86% of the academic teachers hold doctoral degrees, and 57.4% of them have senior titles. 9 professors are qualified to supervise doctoral students. The teaching team includes academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, academicians of the Russian Academy of Engineering, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (double-employment), Changjiang Scholars, young and middle-aged experts with outstanding contributions to the country, candidates for the National Talents Program, national model worker, national model teachers, etc.

The College offers five undergraduate programs in biological sciences, environmental engineering, biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, and ecology, two academic-pathway postgraduate programs in ecology and biology, and three professional-pathway postgraduate programs in resources and environment, pharmacy, and subject teaching (biology). The undergraduate program in biological sciences is rated as a national first-class program, and the key, characteristic and advantageous program in Zhejiang Province. It has obtained the national second-level normal professional certification. The discipline of ecology is rated as the characteristic, first-class and key discipline in Zhejiang Province.

The College has several research platforms such as the National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Urban Water Pollution Ecological Treatment Technology. The three experimental buildings cover an area of 21,000 square meters and the total value of instruments and equipment exceeds 100 million yuan. Collaborating with the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University, the College established the “International Water Ecology and Environment Research Center” and the “International Water Resource and Ecology Research Center”, respectively. It also works with the University of Northern British Columbia to establish the “Ecology and Environment Research Center.”

The research work undertaken by the faculty is characterized by ecological restoration of the water environment. Targeting regional environmental problems, the College has gained the advantages in the field of aquatic ecology. International leading research results, for example, the distributed domestic sewage ecological treatment technology, and water eutrophication and cyanobacterial bloom mechanism and control technology have won a number of awards, including the first prize of Zhejiang Province Natural Science Award, the first prize of Zhejiang Province Science and Technology Progress Award, the first prize of Innovative Achievement Award of China Industry-University-Research Cooperation Award, and the second prize of Outstanding University Research Achievement Award (Natural Science) by Ministry of Education. The faculty published papers in renowned journals such as sub journals of Nature, PNAS, and Water Research.

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