The director of NM Water Resources Research Institute, Prof. Alexander G. "Sam" Fernald and Prof. Jinfa Zhang from the New Mexico State University (NMSU), USA visited CAWR (Center for Agricultural Water Research in China) on May 14, 2015. Prof. Kang Shaozhong, director of CAWR and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Prof. Yan Haijun, dean of the College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, and Prof. Huang Guanhua, dean of the International College, etc., welcomed the visitors and they conducted the academic communication in depth and discussed future cooperation issues.

　　On the morning of May 14, 2015, meeting was held at room 101 of the Water College Building. Prof. Yan warmly welcomed the visitors and introduced the College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering to the guests. Then Profs. Kang and Fernald introduced the Center for Agricultural Water Research in China and the NM Water Resources Research Institute with their research achievements, respectively. They discussed future cooperation and exchange issues after the establishment of NMSU-CAU Water Science and Engineering Joint Research Center (shortened as the Joint Center) and agreed on the following activities. The Joint Center will co-organize the Workshop on Water and Food Security under Changing Environments held by China Agricultural University on June 1-7, 2015. Two professors from NMSU will participate in this workshop and visit the Shiyanghe Experimental Station supported by ‘111’ Plan of CAWR. 4-6 Professors from CAWR will visit NMSU and related experimental sites for academic connections in this summer. The Joint Center will open summer school for graduates and hold the international forum on hydrological modeling. NMSU will host the graduates from CAWR for academic exchange and visit. After that, the guests visited the labs in the Water College Building.  

　　In the afternoon, workshop was held at room 304 of the Water College Building. Prof. Fernald gave a presentation titled ‘Surface water ground water interactions, coupled natural and human systems, and a dynamic water budget for New Mexico’. Profs. Huang Guanhua and Du Taisheng gave presentations titled ‘Agro-hydrological modeling from field scale to regional scale’ and ‘Water saving research in arid Northwest China’ respectively. Then Prof. Fernald introduced the main research fields and projects in each research group of the NM Water Resources Research Institute, in order to facilitate the future connections between the professors of the two universities. The attendants and the guests discussed in depth on related topics during the workshop, which helped to provide the attendants the international perspectives. After the workshop, Prof. Zhang shared his experience of pursuing knowledge in USA, and encouraged the students to cherish the present time, to make plan in advance and to manage time effectively. The students learned a lot from his experience.

　　Profs. Guo Ping, Mao Xiaomin, Huo Zailin, Wang Chaoyuan etc. participated in the meeting in the morning. Dr. Niu Jun, Su Yanping, Ding Risheng, Xiong Yunwu, Liu Liu, Xu Xu etc. participated in the workshop in the afternoon.