Whenever people mention “brain drain” (人才流失), I feel a bit guilty.  Why? I came to U.S. in September 1986, after receiving my M.S. from Zhongshan University. I am still in U.S. as of September 2009, and I have no immediate plan to return to China.

 

Do I feel terribly guilty about not returning to China, my birth country where I received all my basic education including English?  Not really. First of all, I don’t think I was “人才” before I came abroad.  I am one of those people who received both B.S. and M.S. in China, but were still incapable of carrying out world-class research after that.  Had I remained in China, I would still not be any “人才" today.  Secondly, I am an ocean modeler; even the computing facility here at U. Hawaii is not adequate for my research, which involves running eddy-resolving numerical experiments (at 10-km horizontal resolution at least, say for the Indian Ocean basin).

 

Do I want to contribute to the scientific community in China?  Of course, I do.  I have been keeping a close contact with my colleagues in China for more than 10 years, and I now work for two journals in China as their English editor.

 

What I learned in China prepared me well for my further training in U.S. I will never forget my teachers and professors in China!  Without my education in U.S., I don’t think I can do as much for China as I am doing right now.

 

To read 曹聪的博客 on 中国的“人才流失”、“人才回归”和“人才循环” , please go to: http://www.sciencenet.cn/m/user_content.aspx?id=224061