Jianguo Liu (; born 1963) is a Chinese American ecologist and sustainability scientist specializing in the human-environment and

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

studies. He is University Distinguished Professor at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

Early life and education

Liu was born in

Hunan Province Hunan is an inland province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, and Guizhou and Chon ...

, Southern China, in 1963. He received a B.S. in plant protection at Hunan Agricultural University in 1983, an M.S. in ecology at the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

in Beijing in 1986, and a PhD in ecology (with focus on

ecological economics Ecological economics, bioeconomics, ecolonomy, eco-economics, or ecol-econ is both a transdisciplinary and an interdisciplinary field of academic research addressing the interdependence and coevolution of human economy, economies and natural ec ...

) from the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

in 1992. He did his postdoctoral study at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

during 1992-1994.

Career

Liu joined the faculty of

in 1995. He has been the

Rachel Carson Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservation movement, conservationist whose sea trilogy (1941–1955) and book ''Silent Spring'' (1962) are credited with advancing mari ...

Chair in Sustainability since 2004 and University Distinguished Professor since 2005. In 2004, he became the founding director of the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability. Liu was a visiting scholar (on sabbatical) at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

(2001-2002),

(2008), and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

(2009). He has also been a research affiliate with the Institute of Social Research at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor since 2002.

Research

Liu has published approximately 400 journal articles, book chapters, and books, in collaboration with hundreds of students and scholars around the world. His publications cover a variety of topics, such as telecoupling, systems integration, sustainability, protected areas, biodiversity, ecosystem restoration,

ecosystem service Ecosystem services are the various benefits that humans derive from ecosystems. The interconnected living and non-living components of the natural environment offer benefits such as pollination of crops, clean air and water, decomposition of wast ...

s, forest dynamics, drivers of environmental change (e.g. divorce and household proliferation), coupled human and natural systems, ecology, ecological economics, conservation, environment, food systems, land use and land cover change, landscapes, metacoupling, climate change impact, nature-based climate solutions (e.g., natural carbon capture and sequestration), natural resources (e.g., bioenergy, forests, land, water), sociology (e.g., social norms), sustainable development goals, systems modeling, technology (e.g., AI, geographic information systems, machine learning, remote sensing), and wildlife. Below are a few highlights.

Selected publications

* Liu, Jianguo (2023). "Leveraging the metacoupling framework for sustainability science and global sustainable development". ''National Science Review'' 10(7), nwad090. * Liu, Jianguo, Thomas Dietz, Stephen R. Carpenter, William W. Taylor, Marina Alberti, Peter Deadman, Charles Redman, Alice Pell, Carl Folke, Zhiyun Ouyang, and Jane Lubchenco (2021). " Coupled Human and Natural Systems: The evolution and applications of an integrated framework". ''Ambio 50:1778-1783. * Xu, Zhenci, Sophia N. Chau, Xiuzhi Chen, Jian Zhang, Yingjie Li, Thomas Dietz, Jinyan Wang, Julie A. Winkler, Fan Fan, Baorong Huang, Shuxin Li, Shaohua Wu, Anna Herzberger, Ying Tang, Dequ Hong, Yunkai Li and Jianguo Liu (2020)." Assessing progress towards sustainable development over space and time". ''Nature''. 577 (7788): 74-78. * Liu, Jianguo (2020)

Telecoupling Telecoupling is a strategy that comprehensively analyzes both the socioeconomic and environmental impacts over long distances. The concept of telecoupling is a logical extension of research on coupled human and natural systems, in which interacti ...

. In: ''The International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, Environment, and Technology''. Edited by Douglas Richardson, Noel Castree, Michael F. Goodchild, Audrey Kobayashi, Weidong Liu, and Richard A. Marston. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. * Liu, Jianguo, Vanessa Hull, H. Charles J. Godfray, David Tilman, Peter Gleick, Holger Hoff, Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Zhenci Xu, Min Gon Chung, Jing Sun and Shuxin Li (2018). " Nexus approaches to global sustainable development". ''Nature Sustainability'' 1(9):466–476. * Liu, Jianguo (2017). " Integration across a metacoupled world". ''Ecology and Society'' 22(4):29. * Liu, Jianguo; Mooney, Harold; Hull, Vanessa; Davis, Steven J.; Gaskell, Joanne; Hertel, Thomas; Lubchenco, Jane; Seto, Karen C.; Gleick, Peter; Kremen, Claire; Li, Shuxin (2015). "Systems integration for global sustainability". ''Science'' 347 (6225):1258832. * Liu, Jianguo, Vanessa Hull, Mateus Batistella, Ruth DeFries, Thomas Dietz, Feng Fu, Thomas W. Hertel, R. Cesar Izaurralde, Eric F. Lambin, Shuxin Li, Luiz A. Martinelli, William J. McConnell, Emilio F. Moran, Rosamond Naylor, Zhiyun Ouyang, Karen R. Polens (2013). "Framing sustainability in a telecoupled world". ''Ecology and Society'' 18(2):26. * Yu, Eunice and Jianguo Liu (2007). " Environmental Impacts of Divorce". ''PNAS'' 104(51):20629–20634. * Liu, Jianguo, Thomas Dietz, Stephen R. Carpenter, Marina Alberti, Carl Folke, Emilio Moran, Alice N. Pell, Peter Deadman, Timothy Kratz, Jane Lubchenco, Elinor Ostrom, Zhiyun Ouyang, William Provencher, Charles L. Redman, Stephen H. Schneider, William W. Taylor (2007). "Complexity of Coupled Human and Natural Systems". ''Science'' 317(5844):1513-1516. * Liu, Jianguo & Jared Diamond (2005). " China's environment in a globalizing world". ''Nature'' 435:1179-86. * Liu, Jianguo, Gretchen C. Daily, Paul R. Ehrlich and Gary W. Luck (2003). " Effects of household dynamics on resource consumption and biodiversity". ''Nature'' 421:(530–533). * Liu, Jianguo; Marc Linderman; Zhiyun Ouyang; Li An; Jian Yang; Hemin Zhang (2001). "Ecological degradation in protected areas: The Case of Wolong Nature Reserve for Giant Pandas" ''Science'' 292(5514):98-101.

Honors and awards

* Member of the USA’s

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, 2025 * Top Cited Scholar according to Scilit * Highly Ranked Scholar according to ScholarGPS * Highly Cited Researcher according to Clarivate Analytics * Member,

Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (, DKNVS) is a Norway, Norwegian learned society based in Trondheim. It was founded in 1760 and is Norway's oldest scientific and scholarly institution. The society's Protector is King Harald V of ...

, 2022 *

Eminent Ecologist Award The Eminent Ecologist Award is prize awarded annually to a senior ecologist in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the science of ecology. The prize is awarded by the Ecological Society of America. According to the statutes, the recipient ...

, 2022 * Gunnerus Award in Sustainability Science, 2021 * World Sustainability Award (with John Elkington), 2021 * Special Tribute, State of Michigan, 2021 * Innovations in Sustainability Science Award, 2020 * Fellow,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, 2018 * Distinguished Landscape Ecologist Award, 2018 * Fellow,

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

, 2018 * “Highly Cited Researcher”,

Clarivate Analytics Clarivate Plc is a British-American publicly traded analytics company that operates a collection of subscription-based services, in the areas of bibliometrics and scientometrics; business and market intelligence, and competitive profiling ...

, 2018 * Sustainability Science Award, 2017 * Member,

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, 2015 * Fellow,

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

, 2010 * Ralph H. Smuckler Award for Advancing International Studies and Programs, 2007 * Guggenheim Fellowship, 2006 * Distinguished Service Award, 2006 * Distinguished Faculty Award, 2005 * Teacher-Scholar Award, 2002 * Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow, 2001 *

National Science Foundation CAREER Award The National Science Foundation CAREER award is the most prestigious award presented by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States Federal Government to support junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through rese ...

, 1997

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Jianguo 1963 births Living people Michigan State University faculty Fellows of the Ecological Society of America Scientists from Hunan Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Hunan Agricultural University alumni University of Georgia alumni Sustainability scientists Members of the American Philosophical Society Chinese expatriate academics in the United States