Qianru Liao
Position
- Postdoc Research Associate
Qianru Liao is a spatial ecologist whose research lies at the interface of geography and biology, with broad interests in movement ecology, animal-environment interactions, remote sensing, and quantitative spatial analysis. Her research focuses on how animals perceive, evaluate, and respond to dynamic landscapes, and how individual movement decisions scale up to broader patterns of movement and ecological connectivity.
Her current research uses high-resolution tracking data from gulls and Arctic-breeding shorebirds, including Pectoral Sandpipers and Dunlin, to investigate fine-scale space use, breeding-season movements, movement strategies, and connectivity across the annual cycle.
More broadly, she aims to develop transferable spatial frameworks that link environmental dynamics to animal decision-making, movement pathways, and connectivity under global change.
Her current research uses high-resolution tracking data from gulls and Arctic-breeding shorebirds, including Pectoral Sandpipers and Dunlin, to investigate fine-scale space use, breeding-season movements, movement strategies, and connectivity across the annual cycle.
More broadly, she aims to develop transferable spatial frameworks that link environmental dynamics to animal decision-making, movement pathways, and connectivity under global change.
Contact
Email
qianru@iastate.edu
Phone
515-294-4111
Science 2
2310 Pammel Dr
Ames
,
IA
50011-1031
Social Media and Websites
Research Area
Area of Expertise
- Movement Ecology
- Spatial Ecology
- Remote Sensing
- Animal Movement
- Geographic Information Systems
Education
- Ph.D., Marine Estuarine and Environmental Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, 2021–2026
- M.S., Geography, University at Buffalo, 2018–2020
- B.S., Physical Geography and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, 2013–2017