Jianguo (Jack) Liu

An ecologist, human-environment scientist, and sustainability scholar, Jianguo (Jack) Liu holds the Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability, is a University Distinguished Professor, and serves as founding director of the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability at Michigan State University (MSU). Liu came to MSU after completing his postdoctoral work at Harvard University. He was a visiting scholar at Stanford (2001-2002), Harvard (2008), and Princeton (2009). He is a pioneer in systems integration for sustainability (e.g., integrating ecology with the social sciences, policy, and technologies to understand and promote global sustainability). He has been leading the development and applications of the telecoupling and metacoupling frameworks worldwide. Liu’s research findings have illuminated transformative pathways for sustainability, including the recovery of panda habitat and biodiversity, improved environmental quality and ecosystem services, and enhanced human well-being. His work has been published in journals such as Nature and Science, and has been widely covered by the international news media (e.g., The New York Times, BBC, Time magazine, CNN, Reuters, Xinhua News Agency). Liu has served on various international and national committees, such as chairing the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee on research across multiple scales (from molecular to global). He is a past president of the International Association for Landscape Ecology – North America (IALE-NA). He has served on the editorial boards or as an editor for more than 20 international journals, including Science. He founded and leads the International Network of Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems & the NASA-MSU Professional Enhancement Awards Program. His accomplishments have been recognized by numerous prestigious awards and honors, including the Eminent Ecologist Award of the Ecological Society of America, the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Gunnerus Award in Sustainability Science, and the World Sustainability Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters. Liu is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.