Yao Tandong, an academician with the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), poses for a portrait in Beijing, China, Dec. 26, 2016. The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG) has decided to award the 2017 Vega Medal to Professor Yao Tandong for his contributions to research on glaciers and the environment on the Tibetan Plateau. Yao is the first Asian scientist to win the award. [Photo/Xinhua]