Established in March 2005, the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science (Xiamen University) (MEL, http://mel.xmu.edu.cn/englishweb/index.asp) is sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). It was categorized as an excellent state key laboratory during a nation-wide review sponsored by the MOST in 2010. MEL is dedicated to interdisciplinary and cutting-edge research in marine environmental sciences, particularly in marine biogeochemistry and its interactions with the marine ecosystem.

In order to foster information and idea exchange within and outside China and particularly encourage interdisciplinary researches, MEL sponsored and organized the First Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences (http://mel.xmu.edu.cn/conference/1XMAS/, 1^st XMAS) in Jan 2014, which attracted over 270 participants from five countries. 

We are now pleased to announce that the Second Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences (http://mel.xmu.edu.cn/conference/2XMAS/, 2^nd XMAS) will be held on Jan 7-9, 2015 in Xiamen. The XMAS will become a regular symposium series, which will be organized every two years hereafter. This event will be supported by the Earth Sciences Division, National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSF-China). As we did during the first XMAS, a special session run entirely by graduate students will also be organized at this symposium.