Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC),

National Collections and Marine Infrastructure (NCMI),

CSIRO, Black Mountain, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

E-mail: living.li@csiro.au

Employment

2023-pres    CERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO.

2015-2018   Research assistant, College of Ecology and Evolution, School of Life Sciences; Digital curator of Insect collection, the Museum of Biology, Sun Yat-sen university, Guangzhou, China.

Education

2019-2023   PhD, Research School of Biology, Australian National University & Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO. Thesis title: Small insects, Big pattern: Macroevolution of a hyperdiverse beetle radiation (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Supervisors: Craig Moritz, Adam Slipinski, Andreas Zwick.

2011-2014   M.S., Zoology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. Thesis title: Molecular phylogeny and taxonomy of the net-winged beetle tribes Macrolycini and Lyponiini (Coleoptera: Lycidae). Supervisor: Hong Pang.

2007-2011   B.S., Biology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. Thesis title: Comparative morphology of exemplary taxa from Lycidae, Cantharidae and Lampyridae (Coleoptera). Supervisors: Hong Pang, Adam Slipinski.

Research projects

The Australian auger and furniture beetles (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae and Ptinidae: Anobiinae): resolving morphological and molecular relationships of economically and environmentally important insect groups (DAFF-CSIRO Grant, $450,000).

Phylogenomics and macroevolution of hyperdiverse beetle clades.

• Miocene aridification as the driver to a continental adaptive radiation (paper in prep.; species-level sequencing and monograph prep in progress).

• Speciation and community assembly of flightless beetles on ‘sky islands’ of the Australian Wet Tropics (paper in prep.).

Phylogeography and integrative species delimitation of poorly dispersing net-winged beetles (Coleoptera: Lycidae) in eastern Palearctic and northern Oriental region.

Testing the ring species hypothesis in the Alauda skylark species complex using multilocus data (collaboration with Prof. Yang Liu, Sun Yat-sen University; Prof. Per Alstrom, Uppsala University, Sweden).

Awards, Grants and Scholarship

2023-2026       Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF)-CSIRO Grant ($450,000).

2019-2022       Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship ($97,586).

2019-2022       CSIRO Postgraduate Top-up scholarship ($30,000).

2020-2021       Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment, the Ecological Society of Australia ($5,205).

2019-2020       Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment, the Ecological Society of Australia ($6,375).

2014                Beijing entomological society awards to excellent nature photography.

2012                State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol awards to excellent students.

2011                Conservation Leadership Program: Future Conservationist Award.

2011-2013       Sun Yat-sen University scholarships to graduate students.

2009-2010       Sun Yat-sen University scholarships to undergraduate students.

2006                National Math Olympics 1st prize to high school students.

Presentations

08/2024 Evolution across the adaptive landscape in a hyperdiverse beetle radiation (International Congress of Entomology, Kyoto, Japan).

12/2023       The rise of darklings: Evolution across the adaptive landscape in a hyperdiverse beetle radiation (Australian Evolution Conference, Adelaide).

11/2023       From phylogenomics to macroevolution: evolution across the adaptive landscape in a hyperdiverse beetle radiation (Biosystematics conference, Canberra).

12/2022       Miocene aridification as the driver to a continental adaptive radiation (Australian Evolution Conference, Canberra).

12/2019       Macroevolution of a hyperdiverse invertebrate group at continental scales (Australian Entomological Society Conference, Brisbane).

04/2016       Phylogeography of the skylark complex (Passeriformes, Alaudidae) (11th Cross-strait Ornithological Conference, Taiwan).

10/2013       Introduction to molecular phylogenetics (in lecture “Principles of Entomology”, Sun Yat-sen University).

07/2013       DNA barcoding and Field sampling, Sun Yat-sen University.

11/2011       Methods on insect sampling (in lecture “Principles of Entomology”), Sun Yat-sen University.

Fieldwork and outreach activities

12/2023       General insect sampling and Malaise trapping at Round Hill, NSW (2 days).

11/2023       General insect sampling at SW Western Australia (Goldfields NP-Cape Arid NP-Stirling Range-Walpole, 1 week).

4/2021, 12/2020-1/2021, 12/2019      Target sampling of Apterotheca darkling beetles across 23 mountain peaks in the Australian Wet Tropics, Queensland.

03/2021       General beetle sampling at Border range NP, New South Wales (2 weeks).

11/2019       General beetle sampling at Great Otway and Yarra ranges NP, Victoria (2 weeks).

10/2019       General beetle sampling in the Australian Wet Tropics, Queensland (2 weeks).

02-03/2018  Visiting scholar at Evolutionary Biology Center, Uppsala University, Sweden (collaboration on the skylark project).

01/2018       General beetle sampling at New England and Dorrigo NP, New South Wales.

01/2018       Visiting scholar at Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO.

11/2017       Workshop demonstrator in Beetle Systematics (SYSM-ANIC beetle workshop, the Museum of Biology, Sun Yat-sen University).

09/2017       Field survey on insect diversity in the Luoxiao Range (1 week, Luoxiao range biodiversity research program).

05-06/2017  Target sampling of net-winged beetles in Hengduan mountains (1 week).

06/2016       Target sampling of net-winged beetles in Changbai mountains (1 week).

06/2016       Fieldwork at Qinghai Lake, Tibetan plateau: collecting blood samples from sand martins and skylarks for genetic research (1 week).

03/2016       Visiting scholar at the Department of Zoology, Cambridge University, UK (collaboration on the skylark project).

05/2015       Target sampling of net-winged beetles in Hengduan mountains (1 week).

09/2013       Rapid beetle survey in Hongkong (invited by Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hongkong, 1 week).

05/2013       English-Mandarin translator in the workshop on controlling illegal wildlife trade in China (Wildlife Conservation Society China program, oral translation for Scott Roberton and Paul Crow).

09-11/2012  Visiting student in the Molecular Phylogenetics Lab of Prof. Ladislav Bocak (Palacky University, Oloumouc, Czech Republic).

2011-2012   Conservation Leadership Programs: community-involved reptile conservation in karst forests of southern China, project co-leader.

08/2011       Beetle systematics workshop (organized by ANIC-CSIRO and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 1 week).

2010-2011   Field survey on moth diversity at Heishiding Nature Reserve (light trapping, three days each month in two consecutive years).

2010-2011   Biodiversity assessment in Jinggangshan nature reserve, Jiangxi province (Bird survey in the daytime, night sampling for amphibians and reptiles, 09/11/2010, 01/03/2011; 1 week beetle survey in 04/2011).

07/2011       Ornithological survey in Yihuang nature reserve, Jiangxi province (1 week).

08/2010       Herpetological survey in southern China, organized by the Museum of Biology, Sun Yat-sen university (6 nature reserves from Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Guizhou provinces, 1 month).

07/2010       Course demonstrator in Field Biology (Sun Yat-sen University, 1 week).

2012-2015   Rapid beetle survey in biodiversity hotspots from southern China (collecting beetle samples for genetic research across 51 nature reserves in China, 05/2011, 04-07/2012, 04-06/2013, 06/2014, 05-06/2015).