The 12th graduate students' science forum of CAS Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment for East Asia (TEA) was successfully held on November 25, 2020 in Beijing. Over 100 researchers and graduate students participated in this conference either onsite or online, and 17 presentations were delivered on topics of regional climate change, land-climate interactions, and climate extremes. Among the talks, two are from international students, as the lab also serves as the East Asia regional center of START, an international capacity building agency of global change research. In a series of thematic presentations, students from multiple fields shared their progress, important results and experiences. These presentations led to a spirited discussion among the participants concerning the importance of regional model development and application, the complexity of climate and environment changes.