People
Program Director
Rhett D HARRISON
Scientific Coordinator
Lan QIE a.k.a. Lainie
Resource staff
| Kathryn BUSHLEY | Chuck CANNON | Kunfang CAO | Jin Chen |
| Ze-Xin FAN | Yulong FENG | Jeremy MILLER | Douglas SCHAEFER |
| Ferry SLIK | Jacob D Wickham | Douglas YU | |
Teaching assistants
| Wing-Kan FU | SHI Lingling | ||
Mugshots & Biographies
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Rhett D HARRISON (PhD) |
| Institute: Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences |
| Research: My research focuses on plant-animal co-evolution, in particular figs and fig wasps, and on biodiversity management and conservation |
| Fieldcourses: CTFS-AA 2001, 2003 & 2008 (Pasoh), 2004 Lambir, 2005 Khao Chong, 2006 Sinharaja, 2007 (Xishuangbanna), Java-Bali-Lombok 2010, AFEC-X 2010-2011. |
| Email: rharrison [at] xtbg dot org dot cn Website |
 |
Lan QIE a.k.a. Lainie (PhD) |
| Institute: Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences |
| Research: An alumna of International Field Biology Course at XTBG in 2007, I recently concluded my PhD at National University of Singapore. My research focuses on forest fragmentation and community disassembly, island biogeography, ecological roles and conservation of arthropods in the tropics. |
| Fieldcourses: CTFS-AA 2007 (Xishuangbanna) (as participant), AFEC-X 2010-2011. |
| Email: qie.lan [at] gmail dot com |
Resource staff
Kathryn BUSHLEY (PhD)
NSF International Research Postdoctoral Fellow (USA), Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
My current research focuses on the ecology and evolutionary biology of insect pathogenic fungi. I utilize genomic techniques to address questions about what biological and biochemical features adapt these fungi to parasitize and interact with insects, to understand other ecological niches they may occupy while not infecting an insect host, and to investigate patterns of dispersal and intraspecific diversity.
Fieldcourses: AFEC-X 2011.
Email: bushleyk [at] science dot oregonstate dot edu
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.
Fieldcourses: CTFS-AA 2008 (Pasoh), AFEC-X 2009-2011.
Email: chuck.cannon [at] gmail dot com
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
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 (Xishuangbanna), AFEC-X 2009-2011.
Email: cj [at] xtbg dot org dot com
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
Yulong FENG (PhD)
Ecology of Biological Invasions, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mainly engaged in studying (1) mechanisms underlying alien plant invasions in terms of resource capture and use, novel weapons, enemy release, and rapid evolution; (2) impacts of alien plant invasions, especially on soil biology and nutrient cycling; (3) control of invasive plants; (4) responses of plants to global changes; (5) plant ecophysiology.
Fieldcourses: AFEC-X 2009-2010.
Email: fyl [at] xtbg dot org dot cn
Jeremy MILLER (PhD)
Research Scientist, Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis
How many species live in a place? How do communities change across landscapes? These questions allow us to characterize and compare biodiversity. I am also interested in online tools and practices for making biodiversity data widely available. My taxonomic specialty is spiders.
Fieldcourses: AFEC-X 2009 and 2011.
Email: jeremy dot miller [at] ncbnaturalis dot nl
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
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
Jacob D. WICKHAM (PhD)
NSF International Research Fellow (USA), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Instructor for AFEC 2010, Research interests include chemical ecology of forest insects and tropical arthropod biodiversity assessment. My current work investigates laboratory identification and field evaluation of pheromones of longhorned beetles (Cerambycidae) of tropical and temperate forests of China, and potential application in pest management of invasive species, forest health protection, and forest insect biodiversity surveys.
Fieldcourses: AFEC-X 2010-2011
Email: jacobwickham [at] gmail dot com
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
Soumya PRASAD (PhD)
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
I research seed dispersal, in particular seed dispersal networks in tropical dry forests and ruminant-plant interactions.
Workshops: Experimental Design and Data Analysis (2008@Kuching, 2010@Bali); Scientific Paper Writing (2008@Kuching); Seed dispersal and frugivory (2006@XTBG)
Email:prasadsoumya [at] gmail dot com
TANG Yong (PhD)
Associate Professor, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Most of my research works are focused on the understanding of mechanisms that maintain tree species diversity in tropical rainforests. I’m also passionate for rainforest conservation and restoration.
Fieldcourses: AFEC-X 2010-2011
Email: tangy [at] xtbg dot ac dot cn
Mahua GHARA (defending PhD thesis soon)
Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
I study species coexistence in a community using the fig–fig wasp system.I am also interested in multi-trophic interactions and life-history traits.
Workshops: International workshop on nocturnal pollination, Bangalore, India (Resource person).
Email: mahuaghara [at] gmail dot com
Geetha Ramaswami (completing PhD thesis)
Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
I am interested in understanding how the invasive shrub Lantana camara is spreading in a dry forest habitat and also how native tree seedlings are affected by the presence of this plant.
Email: geetha.ramaswami [at] gmail dot com
XU Zengfu (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: http://jatropha.groups.xtbg.cn/
Teaching assistants
China Programme Officer, The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society/BirdLife International
Field Instructor of AFEC 2010; Research assistant in XTBG on amphibians. Mphil research focused on ecology of the Hong Kong Newt, Paramesotriton hongkongensis; Involved in waterbird census and bird banding programmes for over three years.
Fieldcourses: AFEC-X 2010
Email: vivian dot fu49 [at] gmail dot com
SHI Lingling (PhD candidate)
Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
My current research is on ecology of soil microorganisms, including microbial biogeography, plant-microbe interactions, and function of microorganisms in soil biogeochemical process.
Fieldcourses: AFEC-X 2010 (as participant) and 2011.
Email: shi.l.l [at] hotmail dot com
and more coming soon…
