Prof. Chunsheng Wang is a senior researcher at the Second Institute of Oceanography within China’s Ministry of Natural Resources and a dual-appointed professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. A leading figure in deep-sea ecology, he specializes in baseline surveys, biodiversity assessment, and environmental-impact methods that directly support future deep-sea mining. His work equips regulators and contractors with standardized approaches for mapping habitats, sampling biological communities, and evaluating plume and metal-release risks in potential mining areas.

Trained as a marine ecologist, Wang has spent his career at the Second Institute of Oceanography in Hangzhou while advising graduate students as a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He serves in leadership roles at the Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics and has guided multiple national ocean programs that investigate seamounts, hydrothermal vents, and polymetallic-nodule provinces. As chief scientist on numerous research cruises, he has overseen field campaigns that use remotely operated systems, towed cameras, and the Jiaolong human-occupied vehicle to collect seafloor imagery and samples for ecological baselines.

Wang helped organize and publish ISO 22787 in 2023, the first international standard that sets general principles for marine biotic surveys in the international seabed area. That document specifies station design, sampling strategies, gear, and preservation protocols so data from different contractors are comparable. He and his teams also study mining-relevant disturbance processes, including ex-situ experiments on metal regeneration from nodule-field sediments and biodiversity mapping on cobalt-rich seamounts, which inform risk assessments and monitoring plans.

In public and academic forums, Wang describes deep-sea minerals as a long-horizon option that must proceed only with rigorous science, comprehensive baselines, and enforceable standards. His group’s findings on species distribution, habitat sensitivity, and metal behavior under disturbance are frequently cited as inputs to environmental-impact assessments and to the design of long-term monitoring.

By combining standards development, expedition leadership, and peer-reviewed research, Prof. Chunsheng Wang has become one of China’s most influential scientific voices shaping how deep-sea mining is evaluated and governed.