In the 1980s he became the director of the Canada-China Dinosaur Project, the first cooperative palaeontological partnering between China and the West since the Central Asiatic Expeditions in the 1920s, and helped describe some of the first feathered dinosaurs.
Pada 1980an, ia menjadi direktur Canada-China Dinosaur Project, kerjasama palaeontologi pertama antara China dan Dunia Barat sejak Penjelajahan Asia Tengah pada 1920an, dan membantu mendeskripsikan beberapa dinosaurus berbulu pertama.