2009 LASG International Summer Symposium was held on 19-21 August, 2009 in Yinchuan, China. The theme of the symposium is Climate and Its Changes: Observation, Modeling and Dynamics. More than 90 scientists and graduate students from USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Vietnam, Taipei and mainland China attended the symposium. 20 invited talks introduced the latest research findings in climate analysis and diagnosis, climate variability and project, climate change and extremes, and interaction of spheres. The other talks and poster presentations provide more opportunities for communication and discussion. Not only the renowned scientists frequently asked questions, but also the students often voiced their opinions. The symposium expand participants’ perspectives and many critical issues were raised. 

Since 1986, LASG has a tradition of holding international conferences, symposia, or summer schools in the summer every two or three years. The biggest one we have hosted was IAMAS 2005 in Beijing which attracted more than 800 participants. The most recent one was the ECCE Summer School for Advanced Study in Climate and Earth Environment together held with Beijing Normal University in 2006. Every time, we manage to invite the internationally renowned scientists and carefully choose the theme of the symposium. This year, LASG also sponsored 12 PhD students from different universities in China to attend the summer symposium. This way, Chinese scientists, especially young researchers, can hear most up-to-date research findings without going abroad and benefit from the face-to-face communication with the experts in respective fields. W LASG can keep the tradition and the spirit of an open laboratory, and make LASG summer symposium or summer school an international famous brand.