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; Curator of insect collection, Digital curator officer, 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.
2004-2007 湖南长沙市一中省理科实验班
2001-2004 湖南长沙湘一实验中学
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
11/2025 ACPPO Webinar: Australian auger and furniture beetles: resolving morphological and molecular relationships of economically and environmentally important insect groups (Y. Living Li & Adam Slipinski). Link to recording: https://share.viostream.com/dicbhzwrzgt6on
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
03/2026 General insect collecting in the East Kimberley Region (Mitchell Plateau, Kununurra, Wyndham, Halls Creek, 2 weeks).
2023-2025 Nature photography trips across biodiversity hotspots in Australia (NW Victoria, Western and Central NSW, South Australia, Cape York, Wet Tropics, Western Queensland, Top End, Kimberley, SW and CW Western Australia, Red Center, details see the website photography section).
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).