I have a B.S. in Biology from Beijing Normal University, and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida, under the mentorship of Professor Katie Sieving and working closely with Professor Rob Fletcher. Between 2013 and 2016, I was a postdoctoral research associate with Professor David Wilcove at Princeton University. Between 2017 and 2019, I was a Newton International Fellow funded by the British Royal Society, working with Professor Andrew Balmford and the Conservation Science Group at the University of Cambridge, and Professor Jianchu Xu at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Currently, I am an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Ecology under the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences in Peking University. Further details are provided below and in my CV.
Professional experience
Assistant Professor | Principal Investigator Peking University | May 2019 - Present
Newton International Fellow University of Cambridge | March 2017 - February 2019
Associate Research Scholar Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences | February 2016 - February 2019
Postdoctoral Research Associate Princeton University | September 2013 - December 2016
Grants, awards, and honors
2018 Keynote speaker, Society for Ecological Restoration Australasian Conference, Brisbane, Australia
Understanding synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and ecosystem services to inform forest restoration
strategies
2016 Newton International Fellowship, the British Royal Society (£99,000)
(In collaboration with Professor Andrew Balmford at the University of Cambridge, and Professor Jianchu Xu at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
The global biodiversity and carbon impacts of domestic land use change mediated through international commodity trade
2015 Open Grant of the State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol of Sun Yat-sen University ($16,000)
(In collaboration with Professor Hong Pang and Professor Yang Liu, Sun Yat-sen University)
Phenological responses of plants and animals to climate change and implications for community assembly
2012 Best Poster Award, International Ornithological Congress of Southeast Asia, Thailand
Poster presentation on avian mobbing behavior in montane Southeast Asia
2011 Field Equipment Grant, Idea Wild ($1,500)
Mist-netting and research staff training in the Harapan Rainforest
2010 Future Conservationist Award, Conservation Leadership Programme ($12,500)
(In collaboration with Muhammad Nazri Janra and Aadrean, Universitas Andalas)
Facilitating avian conservation in post-logging lowland rainforest of Sumatra, Indonesia
2009 Practitioner’s Experience Grant, University of Florida ($1,000)
Facilitating capacity building of the forest field staff of the Harapan Rainforest
2009 Research Grant, International Foundation for Sciences ($11,830)
Testing the role of the ‘landscape of fear’ as a potential mechanism mediating selective-logging-induced
ecological impacts on understory forest birds in the lowland rainforest of Sumatra
2009 Student Research Award, Animal Behavior Society ($2,000)
Does selective logging result in a changed ‘landscape of fear’ for the understory avian community in the
lowland tropical rainforest of Sumatra?
2009 Student Membership Award, American Ornithological Union (Awarded membership)
2007 Field Research Grant, University of Florida ($2,000)
Effects of landscape configuration change caused by habitat fragmentation on forest bird species
participating in mixed-species flocks in tropical lowland rainforest of Sumatra, Indonesia
Professional experience
Assistant Professor | Principal Investigator Peking University | May 2019 - Present
Newton International Fellow University of Cambridge | March 2017 - February 2019
Associate Research Scholar Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences | February 2016 - February 2019
Postdoctoral Research Associate Princeton University | September 2013 - December 2016
Grants, awards, and honors
2018 Keynote speaker, Society for Ecological Restoration Australasian Conference, Brisbane, Australia
Understanding synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and ecosystem services to inform forest restoration
strategies
2016 Newton International Fellowship, the British Royal Society (£99,000)
(In collaboration with Professor Andrew Balmford at the University of Cambridge, and Professor Jianchu Xu at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
The global biodiversity and carbon impacts of domestic land use change mediated through international commodity trade
2015 Open Grant of the State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol of Sun Yat-sen University ($16,000)
(In collaboration with Professor Hong Pang and Professor Yang Liu, Sun Yat-sen University)
Phenological responses of plants and animals to climate change and implications for community assembly
2012 Best Poster Award, International Ornithological Congress of Southeast Asia, Thailand
Poster presentation on avian mobbing behavior in montane Southeast Asia
2011 Field Equipment Grant, Idea Wild ($1,500)
Mist-netting and research staff training in the Harapan Rainforest
2010 Future Conservationist Award, Conservation Leadership Programme ($12,500)
(In collaboration with Muhammad Nazri Janra and Aadrean, Universitas Andalas)
Facilitating avian conservation in post-logging lowland rainforest of Sumatra, Indonesia
2009 Practitioner’s Experience Grant, University of Florida ($1,000)
Facilitating capacity building of the forest field staff of the Harapan Rainforest
2009 Research Grant, International Foundation for Sciences ($11,830)
Testing the role of the ‘landscape of fear’ as a potential mechanism mediating selective-logging-induced
ecological impacts on understory forest birds in the lowland rainforest of Sumatra
2009 Student Research Award, Animal Behavior Society ($2,000)
Does selective logging result in a changed ‘landscape of fear’ for the understory avian community in the
lowland tropical rainforest of Sumatra?
2009 Student Membership Award, American Ornithological Union (Awarded membership)
2007 Field Research Grant, University of Florida ($2,000)
Effects of landscape configuration change caused by habitat fragmentation on forest bird species
participating in mixed-species flocks in tropical lowland rainforest of Sumatra, Indonesia