People
Program Director
Richard T. CORLETT (PhD)
Professor, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
My major research interests include terrestrial ecology and biodiversity conservation in tropical East Asia, plant-animal interactions, and the impacts of climate change. I am the author or co-author of several books, including The Ecology of Tropical East Asia and Tropical Rain Forests: an Ecological and Biogeographical Comparison. I am also an author for the Asia chapter of the next (2014) Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and a member of the Steering Committee of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Climate Change Taskforce..
Fieldcourses: Too many to list! Email: corlett [at] xtbg dot org dot com
Scientific Coordinator
Jing-Xin LIU (PhD student)
PhD student of University of Hohenheim, Germany
My thesis topic is about “Vascular plant diversity in the major land use types of Naban River Watershed National Nature Reserve, Xishuangbanna, China”. Plot surveys were carried out in forests, rubber and tea plantations, and annual crop lands including paddy rice field, corn field and hemp field. I am also interested in plant-animal interactions, invasive biology and conservation.
Email: liujingxin[at]msn dot com
Resource staffs
Alice Hughes (PhD)
Macroecological modeling group, CSIRO Black Mountain, Canberra, Australia
OCE Post-doctoral research fellow-CSIRO
From August 2013 I will be an Associate Professor in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Research Interests: My interests are broad, and include many aspects of how species interact with the environment and factors underlying species distribution patterns, in the past, present and potentially into the future. To gain a greater understanding of these factors, and gain insights into what the effect of environmental change may be on species distributions I combine diverse forms of data, and use both predictive and empirical approaches to develop integrative models which can be used to better inform conservation and future research. My particular interest is the Old-World tropics, as this highly diverse region is seriously threatened by an array of pressures, and much further research is needed to develop appropriate conservation strategies across the region.
Email: ah3881[at]hotmail dot co dot uk
Chuck CANNON (PhD)
Professor, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Assoc. Prof., Texas Tech University
I have been working on conservation and basic research questions on tropical Asian forests for +20 years, more specifically on how forest tree species adapt and diversify. We’re attempting to use the latest DNA sequencing technologies to examine both applied and academic questions.
Email: chuck.cannon [at] gmail dot com Website
Douglas SCHAEFER (PhD)
Associate Professor of Soil Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
An American doing ecological research in China, because significant ecological events will happen here in the next decades. I studied chemistry first and biology second, focused on biogeochemical (nutrient) cycles. My current research is on processes controlling soil organic carbon and the fungi that decompose wood. Yours should be also!
Fieldcourses: AFEC-X 2009-2011. Email: xiedaoan [at] xtbg dot ac dot cn
Douglas YU (PhD)
Researcher, Principal Investigator of Ecology, Conservation, & Environment Center (ECEC), Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yu’s research covers the evolution and ecology of mutualisms and the conservation biology of tropical forests. His current research focuses on the theory of the evolution of mutualism (esp. using economic models) and on the development of rapid biodiversity censusing techniques.
Fieldcourses: AFEC-X 2009-2011. Email: dougwyu [at] gmail dot com Website
Eben GOODALE (PhD)
Associate Professor, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
I am a behavioral ecologist, interested in the connection between behavior, community ecology and conservation. Much of my research work has focused on communication and mixed-species flocks of birds. New to XTBG in 2012, I will be exploring interactions between fruiting trees and frugivores in the XTBG region, as well as continuing other
projects on bird behavior and conservation in Asia and Melanesia.
Email: eben dot goodale [at] gmail dot com
Ferry SLIK (PhD)
Professor, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
I try to explain spatial and temporal patterns in tropical plant distributions. One of the main research themes is how global change will affect plant communities and vegetation patterns. My aim is to design optimum conservation strategies that integrate economic development with environmental sustainability.
Fieldcourses: Java-Bali-Lombok 2010, AFEC-X 2009-2011.
Workshops: XTBG Field Botany Course 2012
Email: ferryslik [at] hotmail dot com Website
Jin CHEN (PhD)
Director, Professor, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
My group’s current interests focus on plant-animal interaction, specifically the following questions: 1) How do plant-animal interaction complexes contribute to the creation and maintenance of biodiversity in above and blow ground ecosystems? 2) To what extent are interacting plants and animals co-evolutionarily adapted to and shaped by each other? 3) How do plant-animal interactions respond to changing environments? Our study systems include animals such as frugivory birds, rodents, ants and spiders, and plants such as figs, pines and Tacca spp.
Fieldcourses: CTFS-AA 2007, AFEC-X 2009-2011. Email: cj [at] xtbg dot org dot com Website
Kunfang CAO (PhD)
Professor, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ph.D. of Wageningen University, the Netherlands, My research focuses on plant physiological ecology, especially plant hydraulics, water relations, photosynthesis, and trait evolution and ecological adaptation.
Fieldcourses: CTFS-AA 2007 (Xishuangbanna), AFEC-X 2009-2011.
Email: caokf [at] xtbg dot ac dot cn
Rhett D. HARRISON (PhD)
Associate Professor, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
My involvement in fieldcourses in the region goes back over a decade and I have taught courses in P. Malaysia, Sarawak, Thailand, Sri Lanka, China and Indonesia. My research interests include mechanisms of species co-existence, plant-animal coevolution, and conservation biology.
Email: rharrison [at] xtbg dot org dot cn
Uromi Manage GOODALE (PhD)
Post Doctoral Scholar, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ph.D. Yale University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; MFS, Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. My research focus is on plant physiological ecology and tropical resource management. I am especially interested in plant photosynthesis and resource use under changing environmental conditions.
Email: ugoodale [at] xtbg dot org dot com
Ze-Xin FAN (PhD)
Assistant Professor, Ecophysiology Group, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ph.D. of Erlangen-Nurnberg University, Germany. My research focuses on dendroclimatology, climatology, tree physiology, plant hydraulics,plant functional traits.
Fieldcourses: AFEC-X 2010-2011.
Email: fanzexin [at] gmail dot com
Zengfu XU (PhD)
Professor, Laboratory of Tropical Plant Resource Science, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Professor (Adjunct), School of Life Sciences, The University of Science and Technology of China (USTC)
Our principal interest is genetic improvement of biodiesel feedstock plants. We focus on floral sex determination, flower and seed development, and oil biosynthesis in Jatropha curcas. Our goal is to improve Jatropha seed yield and oil content through genomic and genetic engineering approaches, and to develop Jatropha as a model plant for energy plant research.
Fieldcourses: AFEC-X 2010-2011 Email:
zfxu [at] xtbg dot ac dot cn, zengfu dot xu [at] gmail dot com Website
and more coming soon…
