Biography
Dr. (Johan) Tial Cung Ling is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Environmental and Plant Biology at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA. In his current role, supervised by Dr. John J. Schenk, he focuses on an NSF-funded project to study the evolution of staminodes in Mentzelia (Loasaceae). This project aims to answer the question: Is there an evolutionary response to compensate for the loss of reproductive function when a structure is co-opted to perform a novel function? Prior to this position, Dr. Ling served as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, at Chiang Mai University in Thailand (2022–2023), and at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in China (2018–2022). Dr. Ling received his Ph.D. in Botany from the Kunming Institute of Botany (CAS) in China in 2017, M.Res. in Botany from West Yangon University in Yangon, Myanmar, and both B.Sc. (Hons.; 2007) and M.Sc. (2009) degrees in Botany from Kalay University in Kalay, Myanmar. His main research interest is the ecology and evolution of plant-pollinator interactions.