He was too immersed in working out a theoretical explanation for what nature does on a subatomic scale to care about pollution. It also has brought him closer to his birth country, which his family fled 50 years ago. SDH is a small but ambitious effort to help China manage its explosive economic growth in an environmentally friendly way. The project brings together Iowa State researchers with counterparts from several of China's leading science organizations and universities.
Sustainable development is a way of fostering economic growth while taking care of the environment.
Today, developing nations like China are looking for ways to allow their economies to grow and meet the needs of their people without damaging land, water and air. For Young, work on the project serves as a bridge between the country he has long adopted and the country in which he was born. It also gives him a chance to leave a mark for the better on his homeland. Young and most of his family fled mainland China in 1949 for Taiwan in the final tumultuous days of the Chinese revolution, as the Communists, led by Mao Tse-Tung, took over the country. When Young returned to China in 1979 to seek out his sister, he returned to a place with few, if any, modern conveniences like indoor plumbing or air conditioning in rural areas.