Research Interest

My research interests are broad and still evolving, and encompass the study of population ecology and field investigations of population processes that shape the structure and vital functional parameters of free-ranging population, which in turn influence survival, reproduction and growth, and determine demographic trends of wildlife populations across temporal and spatial scales. Such knowledge is essential to species conservation and for the establishment of effective management measures. For example, in tropical savannah, megaherbivores such as elephants have notable impact to the ecosystem and thus there is a need to understand their ecology and population dynamics to facilitate their long-term conservation and management, especially when it involves free-ranging populations in spatially restricted nature reserves. The application of photographic techniques in field research have greatly contributed to studies of many mammals and other species, and I have been using this approach when participating in several studies of marine and terrestrial mammals in Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia, and South Africa. In my future studies, I intend to incorporate also various aspects of spatial ecology, as these are critical in analyzing and understanding the daily lives of animals, and instrumental in quantifying the ecological dynamics of free-ranging populations in the context of carrying capacity of their habitats. One of my particularly keen interests is in the behavioural ecology of large felids; I had a chance to participate in camera-trapping studies of leopards in South Africa and clouded leopards in Malaysian Borneo, and intend to pursue studies of large cats as my professional career. However, when doing so, I retain the concept of comparative behavioural ecology as the guiding principle of my scientific thinking, and the concept of applied ecology as the measure of value of my future research output.