An animal ecologist in the Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong-University, I am interested in the connection between three fields: behavioral ecology, community ecology and conservation biology. In particular, I focus on how behavior, particularly communication, affects the interactions between species, and how knowledge about such interactions can be integrated into conservation and management plans. Usually I use birds as models, but I’ve also worked on insects (particularly if they fly!), and have conducted fieldwork in Sri Lanka, the United States, India, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and now China. My published work includes more than 130 articles in behavioral, ecological, or environmental peer-reviewed journals, and I am the first author of “Mixed-species Animal Groups”, the only book on this topic. I enjoy teaching and have taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in introductory biology, biodiversity, ecology, and experimental design and statistics. My ultimate mission is to encourage collaboration in the environmental sciences, and support the career development of the next generation of teachers, researchers, and conservation practitioners.

• Information ecology
• Animal behavior, including sociality and communication
• Community ecology and species interactions
• Applied ecology, including agroecology and habitat fragmentation
• Ecotoxicology

• Acting Head of Department, Deoartment of Health and Environmental Sciences, 7/24-
• Professor, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) 8/22-
• Professor, Guangxi University, 10/14-7/22
• Associate Professor, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 9/12-9/14
• Lecturer and Visiting Scholar, University of California, San Diego, 1/10-7/12
• Lecturer, University of San Diego, 1/10-6/12
• International Research Postdoctoral Fellow, National Science Foundation, 1/07-12/09
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 8/06-7/07

At Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University:

• Introductory Field Skills for Environmental Scientists (undergraduate; co-taught, Fall 2025)
• Scientific Communication and Integrity (undergraduate; co-taught, Spring 2025)
• Introduction to Ecology, Evolution and Earth Systems (undergraduate; module leader, Fall 2022-2025)
• Quantitative Field Skills, Data Collection and Analysis for Environmental Scientists (undergraduate; module leader, Spring 2023-2024)

At Guangxi University:

• Principles of Ecology (undergraduate; course leader, Spring 2015, Spring 2017-2018, Summer 2021)
• Advances in Ecology and Conservation (undergraduate; co-taught, Fall 2014-2020; course leader, Fall 2021).
• Principles of Ecology (graduate international; course leader, Spring 2017-2018, Fall 2018-2019, Fall 2021)
• Animal Ecology (graduate domestic; course leader, Fall 2018-2020)
• Seminar in Statistics and Experimental Design (graduate international; course leader, Fall 2016-2019)
• Advanced Statistics (graduate domestic; co-taught, Spring 2016)
• Spatial Distribution Analysis (GIS and SDM modeling; graduate international; course leader, Spring 2022).
• Seminar in Behavioral Ecology (8-week seminar class for graduate students, informally arranged; course leader, Spring 2021).

At the University of San Diego:

• Environmental Biology (undergraduate; course leader, Spring 2012)
• The Biology of Organisms (undergraduate; course leader, Fall 2010)
• Senior Seminar (undergraduate thesis students; course leader, Fall 2009)

At the University of California, San Diego:

• Introduction to Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (undergraduate; course leader, Fall 2010-2011)

At the University of New Haven:

• Ecology with Laboratory (undergraduate and graduate tracks; course leader, Fall 2008)

At the University of Massachusetts, Amherst

• Biology of Social Issues (undergraduate; co-taught, Fall 2008)

• All-Round Academic Excellence Award, Science School, XJTLU. Awarded 4/25.
• Elected Member, American Ornithological Society. Awarded 8/20.
• 1000 Plan Recruitment Program of Global Experts. A national level Chinese grant for recruiting international scientists. Awarded 3/13.
• NSF International Research Postdoctoral Fellowship. Awarded 8/06, for two years.
• American Institute of Indian Studies, Senior Fellowship. Awarded 10/05.
• NSF Graduate Fellowship. Awarded 4/00, for three years.
• Fulbright Junior Scholarship. Awarded 9/97, for one year.