About me | Notion

Photo by Ziyu Lin

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I'm currently a PhD candidate at the University of Hong Kong, focusing on biogeography and community ecology of the often-neglected majority: insects.

Coming from Yunnan, China

Born and raised in Yunnan, a region renowned for China's richest biological and cultural diversity, I've been captivated by the beauty and complexity of both nature and human societies. Since my teenage years, I've dreamed of studying and protecting these diverse ecosystems from irreversible decline. After nineteen years in this inland, southern, mountainous region, I chose to move 2,500 kilometers north to study biological sciences at Nankai University (NKU) in Tianjin—a coastal city near Beijing.

Falling love with insects

During my time at NKU, I received comprehensive training in biological sciences, spanning both macro and micro scales. I also developed my leadership and communication skills by serving as president of student organizations and co-founding a startup company, where I shared my passion for natural education with younger generations.

Most importantly, I met a group of knowledgeable, diligent, and down-to-earth entomologists who opened up the colorful world of insects to me. They inspired me to explore the diversity of these ubiquitous creatures—which make up the majority of animals on Earth yet are often neglected in biodiversity and conservation research. I studied taxonomy of damselfly larvae (Wang et al., 2017 Zootaxa) and diversity patterns of true bugs (Zhang, Wang et al., in revision).

A PhD about ants

Living and being educated in two distant regions, I've been impressed by how geography shapes the diversity of creatures, ecosystems, and cultures. This experience has sparked my research interest in biogeography. Consequently, I decided to move 1,900 kilometers south to do my PhD at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) under the supervision of Prof. Benoit Guénard, who leads one of the most comprehensive databases of insect distribution records—Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics.

During my PhD, I use ants as a model system to address biodiversity knowledge shortfalls of insects by integrating large-scale databases and modeling of ant distributions and phylogeny. I produce the first maps of biogeographic regions for ants in Europe and globally, respectively, presenting fundamental descriptions for their distribution and evolution (Wang et al., 2024. Nature Commun.; Wang et al., 2023. J. of Biogeogr.).

Meanwhile, I conduct fine-scale observations of ant activities over a 24-hour period and comprehensive assessments for their vulnerabilities to climate change. I demonstrate widespread yet heterogeneous diel shifts in subtropical ant community compositions, uncovering the varied thermal vulnerabilities of their ubiquitous foraging activities throughout day and night (Wang et al., in preparation).

But not only ants

While my research primarily focuses on ants, I'm not limited to them. I attempt to expand my interests, knowledge, and skills across multiple taxa and fields through collaborative networks. I've collabrorated with over 10 research groups, exploring the biogeography and ecology of plants, vertebrates, and other invertebrate groups (e.g., Zeng, Gao, Wang et al., 2024, Ecol. Letters; Li, Wang et al., 2024, Front. Plant Sci.; Shi, Ren, Wang et al., 2023, Landsc. Urban Plan.; Wang, Wang et al., 2022, J. of Ecol.; He, Lin, Wang et al., 2022 J. of Biogeogr.; Tang, Wang et al., 2019. PeerJ).

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Also see: CV | Research | Publications | Fieldwork

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And not just research

I also love writing and science communication, engage in teaching and educations, and specialize in designing scientific visualizations.

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Also see: Blog | Design | Education | Outreach

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Contant me: [email protected] | [email protected]

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