Trained as an interdisciplinary researcher, Dr. Li explores the socioecological matrix – the links between environmental consequences and community development in particular. He applies experimental, observational, participatory, and modeling approaches to test theories on coupled human-natural systems and sustainability. He has conducted empirical research on subsistence and biophysical systems in Southeast Asia and East Africa. His most recent research project focuses on the impacts of China’s large-scale land transactions on food security, smallholder wellbeing, and ecosystem services in sub-Saharan Africa as well as their outreaching connections with broader systems that transcend spatiotemporal and institutional scales.
