Research

Carnivores, landscapes, and coexistence

I have studied snow leopard ecology and conservation on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau since 2009. This work examines climate refugia, priority landscapes, connectivity, poaching and trade, human–wildlife conflict, and the roles of local communities and Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in conservation. It also provides the foundation for my broader interest in large carnivores and coexistence.

Biodiversity in human-modified landscapes

A second line of research asks how agriculture, cropland abandonment, urbanization, and other forms of land-use change reshape biodiversity. I work with field observations, spatial data, global biodiversity databases, and emerging sources such as public digital records to distinguish short-term change from durable ecological recovery.

Evidence, data, and AI for conservation

Conservation often has to act before evidence is complete. I study how indicators and surrogate species are selected, how spatial and global data can support decisions, and where computational methods can extend ecological research. This includes culturomics, large language models, and AI-assisted workflows, with provenance, validation, uncertainty, and scientific judgment kept explicit.

Selected research and teaching funding