Principal Investigator
Wenjing XU, Ph.D.
Wenjing is an assistant professor at UMass Amherst Department of Environmental Conservation. She is broadly interested in behavioral ecology, community ecology, and conservation science in social-ecological systems. From the western United States and East Africa to the Tibetan Plateau, she has worked in rangeland/grassland systems where humans share space with domestic and wild ungulates (hoofed mammals).
EDUCATION
Postdoc, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Germany
Postdoc, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan
PhD, Environmental Science, Policy, & Management, University of California, Berkeley
MS, Geography, University of Georgia
CONTACT
wenjingxu [at] umass.edu
Graduate Students
Xingyu DENG
Xingyu is a PhD student in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Program at UMass Amherst. Before his PhD, he spent four years working as a field ecologist on the Tibetan Plateau, focusing on wildlife monitoring and community-based conservation. His current research examines the ecological and human dimensions of human–wolf interactions. Specifically, he studies how wolves respond to human activity in shared landscapes, as well as how local communities perceive and respond to wolves. By integrating field ecology with social science, he aims to identify the ecological and social factors that shape human–wildlife coexistence across different cultural and management contexts.
EDUCATION
MRes, Environmental Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong–Liverpool University
BEng, Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xiamen University
CONTACT
xingyudeng [at] umass.edu
Yunfeng GE
Yunfeng is a PhD student in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Program. She is broadly interested in studying animal behavior and promoting human–wildlife coexistence in socio-ecological landscapes. Her current research focuses on investigating landscape functional connectivity for ungulates in rangeland systems in the US. By combining wildlife tracking data with social surveys, she aims to understand how wildlife responds to different land uses and barriers and to prioritize conservation actions to promote landscape connectivity. Outside of research, she enjoys birding, playing guitar, rock climbing, and playing soccer.
EDUCATION
MSc, Geospatial Data Science, The University of Hong Kong
BA, General Biology-Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Washington University in St. Louis
CONTACT
yunfengge [at] umass.edu
Affiliated lab members
Ning Wang
Ning is a PhD student at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. Her main supervisor is Dr. Lingyun Xiao. Her research focuses on interactions between wild ungulates, particularly Tibetan gazelles, and livestock on the Tibetan Plateau, with an emphasis on conservation strategies and management. She is also broadly interested in ecosystem modeling.
EDUCATION
MSc, Complex System Modelling, King's College London
MRes, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, Imperial College London
BSc, Biological Science, University of Birmingham
BSc, Biological Science, Sun Yat-Sen University
CONTACT
Ning.Wang23 [at] student.xjtlu.edu.cn
Yi Lu
Yi is a PhD student at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University Department of Health and Environmental Science, supervised by Dr. Lingyun Xiao. She is broadly interested in foraging ecology and nomadic pastoralism. Transitioning from molecular genetics to large-animal ecology, her academic journey now focuses on the foraging behavior of ungulates on the Tibetan Plateau, including Tibetan gazelle, kiang, and domestic livestock. She is originally from Haining, China.
EDUCATION
MSc, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, Imperial College London
BSc, Molecular Biology and Genetics, McMaster University
CONTACT
Yi.Lu2302 [at] student.xjtlu.edu.cn
Wei-Wei(浪味仙)
Wei-Wei is a research associate. She is interested in milk carton cap, aluminum foil balls, and other trash-alike. To support the group’s research, she has traveled internationally including the US, Canada, Germany and France. For such achievement, she was awarded an EU pet passport. Unlike many other cats, she is particularly not interested in food. Her work has yet to be peer-reviewed but has been widely disseminated across living room floors. In her spare time, she loves watching pigeons and tasting pigeons feces.
EDUCATION
Pre-school, on the streets of Berkeley, California (although we doubt she learned anything useful).
CONTACT
Available only between 3–5 a.m. via meowing
