Nan Zhibiao, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, is currently dean of the School of Meadow Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University,.

Nan Zhibiao is one of the leaders of China's grass science. He has been working in the remote northwestern region for 40 years and engaged in research, teaching and production. Presiding over a number of projects including national 973 plan, 863 plan and international scientific and technological cooperation, he achieved a number of important research findings in the demonstration and extension of new technologies for animal husbandry in grassland, thus remarkably contributing to the development of stockbreeding technology. He won the Second and Third Prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award once, publishing more than 200 papers. He was awarded the Grand Prize of National Teaching Achievements. His course is recognized by national elite courses, and one of his guided graduate student’s paper was honored as one of the top 100 excellent papers of the country. He himself won a national award for his contributions in introducing advanced technology fro abroad. In 2009, he was elected member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. In 2010, he was honored as an "Outstanding Scientist of China".

He believes that the unreasonable agricultural system is the root cause of grassland degradation, and radicated the fallow period of degraded grassland in Loess Plateau, northwest interior, and the Tibetan Plateau, established the treatment technology system and rational utilization mode. He established different grassland agriculture mode applicable to northern pastoral areas, farming areas and farming and pastoral areas accordingly, greatly enhanced the productivity of grassland in demonstration areas. He established the sustainable management system of pasture diseases, vastly applied in the northwest provinces and autonomous regions.

Under the guidance of the team headed by him, the treated degraded grassland has accounted for 6.7% of China’s total area of grassland, and the natural grassland vegetation coverage has increased from 20% -25% to 40% -75%, significantly improving ecological functions and achieving the goal of land yield increase, farmers and herdsmen income increase as well as environment improvement.

As one of pioneers and organizers in China's grass industry,Nan is now leading the Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems under the Ministry of Agriculture and the Western Grass Engineering Center in Gansu Province. These two institutions ranks at forefront among the similar institutions of the country.