10th Fl. Schermerhorn Ext. New York, NY, 10027 |917-664-8225 | wl2456@columbia.edu

WENYING LIAO

RESEARCH INTEREST

ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY & NUTRIENT CYCLING I am broadly interested in ecosystem ecology and nutrient cycling – My current focus is using theoretical and experimental methods to understand the Nitrogen (N) cycle in terrestrial ecosystem.

My current research primarily investigates symbiotic N-fixing process in terrestrial ecosystem: this includes understanding of the evolutionary history of N fixers, physiological constraints of N fixation, abiotic and biotic interactions between N fixers and others, and the shifting in physiological and community-level responses under regime of climate change.

EDUCATION 2013-PRESENT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, U.S. Master of Arts (Expecting 2015 May) Major: Conservation Biology, Ecology Evolution and Environmental Biology (E3B) Department 2011-2013 UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO, CANADA Bachelor of Science with Honors

Major: Honors Environmental Science/Ecology, Biology Department Thesis Title: Colonial formation of Microcystis sp. from unicellular form and change in response to UVR exposure due to morphological aggregation

2009-2011 UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BEIJING, CHINA Bachelor of Engineering Major: Environmental Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

AWARDS 2013-2014 Earth Institute Travel Grant, Columbia University $2000 E3B Department Research Grant, Columbia University $1500 Sigma Xi Research Grant $650 2011-2012 Dean’s Honors List, Science, University of Waterloo Faculty of Science Chinese Program Award, University of Waterloo $ 2000 2009-2010 Academic Excellence Award, University of Science and Technology Beijing

RESEARCH ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY & N CYCLE 2013 – 2014 RESEARCHER, E3B, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Supervisor: Dr. Duncan Menge

1.The effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on N2O production: a mechanistic approach 2.Demographic dynamics of N fixers in temperate forest ecosystems along succession 3.Spatial and temporal analysis of distribution of N fixers across climatic gradient 4.Estimate of biological N fixation on continental scale

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RESEARCHER, E3B, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Supervisor: Dr. Kevin Griffin

1.Changes in leaf N of Hamamelis virginiana after oak loss and deer exclosure in a deciduous temperate forest 2. N resorption and pigment composition of N-fixing and non-fixing trees during leaf senescence in a temperate forest in Northeast U.S. 2011 - 2012 SENIOR HONORS THESIS, BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

Supervisor: Dr. Ralph Smith

Colonial formation of Microcystis sp. from unicellular form and change in response to UVR exposure due to morphological aggregation OTHER RESEARCH EXPERIENCE 2013 – 2014 RESEARCH ASSISTANT, E3B, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Supervisor: Dr. Maria Uriarte

Tropical Forest Dynamics: Impact of climate change on regeneration of secondary tropical forests

RESEARCH ASSISTANT, CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENT ECONOMY AND SOCIETY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Supervisor: Dr. Don Melnick

The Rainforest Standard: Using remote sensing techniques to analyze deforestation rate and establish baseline information for carbon storage of tropical and temperate forests

2011-2012 RESEARCH ASSISTANT, BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO Supervisor: Dr. Barbara Moffatt

Plant Molecular Biology: Arabidopsis have been used as model organisms to investigate mutant deficiency in an essential enzyme in the Yang cycle.

RESEARCH VOLUNTEER, BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

Supervisor: Dr. David Barton

Freshwater Ecology: Screen and identify benthic invertebrates collected from Lake Ontario

RESEARCHER, ALGONQUIN NATIONAL PARK RESEARCH CENTER Supervisor: Dr. Fiona Hunter

Freshwater Ecology: Physiological, behavioral responses and aggregation pattern of Whirligig beetles

SERVICE AND PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION

2013-2014 Ecological Society of America 2011-2012 Canadian Society of Plant Biologists University of Waterloo Ecology Group Science Academic Society, University of Waterloo

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TEACHING 2013-2014 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Teaching Assistant: EEEB G5005 Statistics for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

PRESENTATION AND PUBLICATIONS

2013-2014 Liao, W and D Menge. 2014. High mortality contributes to the successional decline of temperate nitrogen-fixing trees. ESA Sacramento. Contributed Talk Liao, W and D Menge 2014. Demographic Dynamics of N Fixers explain Overall Low Abundance in Temperate Forest Ecosystems. In prep Taylor, BN, W Liao, and D Menge 2014. The effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on N2O production: A mechanistic approach. In prep.

Taylor, BN, W Liao, and K Griffin 2014. Changes in Leaf N of Hamamelis virginiana after Oak Loss and Deer Exclosure in a Deciduous Temperate Forest. In prep

QUANTITATIVE SKILLS

Statistical Modeling and Mathematical Modeling

OTHER SKILLS Computation skills: Microsoft Office Suite, SPSS, SYSTAT, R Remote sensing skills: GIS, ENVI, CLASlite Laboratory skills: Confocal and Fluorescent Microscopy, Fluorometer, Hyperspectral Reflectance Analysis

LANGUAGES English (Fluent), Chinese (Native)