Team

Intro：I am a tenure-track assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences at Nanjing University. I am an interdisciplinary, problem-oriented conservation biologist, trained in ecology, ornithology, and conservation biology from McGill, Oxford, and Tsinghua Universities. I strive to understand biodiversity patterns and dynamics and how different processes and mechnisms can influence our understanding. Towards this end, I do modelling and empirical research to improve our ability to monitor and estimate biodiversity change. I have also worked on tranforming movement behaviours into long-term populuation persistence based on both wildlife tracking data and experiments in the lab. If you’re a prospective student or postdoc, please also see the opportunities page.

Career: Before Nanjing University, I was a postdoctoral fellow with Andy Gonzalez and Laura Pollock at the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science(QCBS) at the Department of Biology of McGill University. My research there had two major components: theoretical movement ecology (understanding the causes, patterns and mechnisms of organismal movements and their relationship with populaltion dynamics) and connectivity conservation planning (the design of conservation tools to protect connectivity and facilitate movement under global change).

I was a DPhil student under the supervision of Ben Sheldon, Rich Grenyer and Kevin Gaston at the Department of Zoology (now the Department of Biology) of the University of Oxford, where I studied the processes and mechanisms that influence our estimation and understanding of biodiversity, and investigated their implications for biodiversity conservation from multiple scales. In 2018, I graduated from the Department of Earth System Science at Tsinghua University with a MSc degree in Ecology, specialising in species distribution of migratory birds under the supervision of Yali Si.

Current members
（sort by join year and last name）

I am a Ph.D. student in ZIEL under the supervision of Dr. Wenyuan Zhang. My research focuses on the temporal dynamics of biodiversity, aiming to understand the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem stability from a new perspective.

Education Background

2026–Present: School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Ph.D. Student

2023–2026: College of Optical, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang A&F University, M.Eng.

2019–2023: College of Optical, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang A&F University, B.Eng.

Hobbies: Movies, basketball, travel

I am a master student at ZIEL, supervised by Dr. Wenyuan Zhang. My research interests lie in animal movement ecology, with a particular focus on shifts in animal migration routes and habitat connectivity under global climate change. I aim to elucidate the response patterns of animal behavior to environmental change. I hope my research can provide scientific evidence for biodiversity conservation.

Education Background

2026–Present: M.S. in Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University

2022–2026: B.S. in Ecology, School of Environment, Northeast Normal University

Hobbies: photography, table tennis, and watching TV series.

I’m a PhD student at ZIEL, supervised by Dr. Wenyuan Zhang. My research focuses on connectivity science and movement ecology, aiming to understand how environmental change shapes population dynamics through individual movement processes. Based on this, I seek to develop dynamic connectivity-based conservation planning frameworks to support biodiversity conservation under global change.

Education Background

2026–Present: PhD in Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing University

2022–2025: M.Sc. in Zoology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

2018–2022: B.Sc. in Animal Science (Agriculture), College of Animal Science and Technology, Zhejiang A&F University

Hobbies：Wildlife photography, outdoor exploration, handicrafts, strategy games

I am a PhD candidate at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, supervised by Dr. Daiping Wang. I am currently undertaking joint training at ZIEL under the guidance of Dr. Wenyuan Zhang, and I have greatly benefited from this friendly and professional environment. My research focuses on two independent directions: conservation genomics and landscape ecology. Specifically, I study the population genetics of the crested ibis (Threskiornithinae; an endangered bird), and integrate landscape ecology methods to explore how local landscapes shape global avian functional diversity.

Education Background

2024–Present: Ph.D. in Ecology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

2021–2024: M.Sc. in Biology, Hebei University (joint training with IOZ).

2016–2020: B.Sc. in Biotechnology, Qingdao University (joint training with BGI).

Hobbies: basketball, badminton, Chinese chess, cat keeping

I am a research intern in ZIEL, supervised by Dr. Wenyuan Zhang. My research focuses on the application of causal inference and artificial intelligence in quantitative studies of complex ecosystems. I am committed to revealing the dynamic mechanisms of biodiversity under global change and developing interpretable multi-scale assessment and prediction frameworks to provide evidence-based support for biodiversity conservation and decision-making.

Education Background

2024 - Present: Undergraduate in Bioinformatics, Harbin Medical University

Hobbies: ACG culture, Girl-Band anime, Scenario-oriented Games

I am a master student in ZIEL, supervised by Dr. Wenyuan Zhang. My research focuses on avian diversity, and I am committed to providing scientific support for biodiversity conservation and ecological practices through theoretical analysis, field data monitoring, and empirical research.

Education Background

2025 - Present: College of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Ecology, Master student

2021-2025: College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Southwest University, Bachelor of Agriculture

Hobbies: Badminton, Travelling

I am a master student in ecology affiliated with ZIEL. My research interests focus on exploring the interactions between human activities (urban sprawl) and natural systems, with a theoretical foundation in wildlife connectivity under anthropogenic disturbances. My work is devoted to enhancing our understanding of nature and promoting its services for human well-being.

Educational Background

2025 - present: School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, master student in Ecology

2021 - 2025: College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, B.Sc.(Ag.) in Urban forestry

Hobbies: hiking, photography, stand-up comedy

I’m a master student supervised by Dr. Wenyuan Zhang. My main research interests are avian ecology and conservation biology.

I like birdwatching, stargazing, collecting, reading, playing Go and travelling.

Education Background

2025–present: School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University

2019–2022: School of Law, Nanjing University

I am a master student of ZIEL supervised by Dr. Wenyuan Zhang. I am passionate about exploring the impacts of multiple environmental factors on organisms/biological communities. I focus on combining basic research with applied exploration to provide support for policies related to biodiversity and ecological security.

Educational Background

2024 - present: School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, master student in Biology and Pharmaceutical Science

2020 - 2024: School of Ecology and Environment, Yunnan University, B.Sc. in Ecology

Hobbies：Basketball, hiking