Qiuming Cheng

Biography

Dr. Cheng is currently a professor at the School of Earth Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai and the founding director of the State Key Lab of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing). He received his PhD in the Earth Science in University of Ottawa in 1994, spent a year as PDF at the Geological Survey of Canada, and soon became a professor with cross appointments in the Dept. of Earth and Space Science and Dept. of Geography at York University. His research involves in the development and application of modern mathematical geocomplexity theory for modeling nonlinear geo-processes and for the quantitative prediction of mineral resources. His pioneering research on the new fractal density theory and local singularity analysis made major impacts on several geoscientific disciplines, including those concerned with mineralization, magmatism, mid-ocean ridge heat flow, earthquakes, marine sediment subduction and floods. He has published more than 300 refereed journal papers and book chapters, and delivered over 100 invited and keynote presentations. His work published in 1994 on geochemical anomalies recognition by multifractal method has opened a new and emerging sub-field of exploration geochemistry and the paper has become one of the most cited papers in the field. Applications of his methods have led to several discoveries of new mineral deposits in China and elsewhere. He received several prestigious awards including the Krumbein Medal, the highest award given by the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences (IAMG), and AAG Gold Medal, the highest award bestowed by the International Association for Applied Geochemists (AAG).
Dr. Cheng has served as associate editors for Computers & Geosciences, and Journal of Exploration Geochemistry. He has served as President of International Association for Mathematical Geosciences (IAMG) (2012-2016), and the President of International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) (2016-2020). He is a member of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and a foreign member of Academia Europaea (AE). 2022 he was granted the UNESCO Chair in Deep-time Digital Earth and Mineral Resources.