Academic Staff

Dr. Li’s research spans environmental microbiology, microbial ecology, antimicrobial resistance, and plastic pollution. His work focuses on understanding how anthropogenic activities reshape environmental microbiomes and generate One Health risks, with particular emphasis on microbial hazards associated with plastic pollution. He also develops microbial resources and innovative strategies to support sustainable waste management and mitigate pollution-related microbial risks. His research has been published in leading journals, including Nature, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, The Innovation, One Earth, iMeta, Environmental Science & Technology, and Water Research. Six of his papers have been listed as ESI Highly Cited Papers (top 1% globally). His work has been recognized by both the scientific community and policy stakeholders, and has received distinctions such as the iMeta Best Research Paper, Top Cited Paper, and Top Viewed Paper, as well as The Innovation Best Paper, Top Cited Paper, and Most Popular Paper. Its significance has also been highlighted through features on the Royal Society of Chemistry website, inclusion in a World Health Organization (WHO) report, and coverage by media outlets including BBC Wildlife, The European Business Review, Wikipedia, and China Science Daily. Dr. Li was also invited to contribute to the Scientists’ Declaration for the Global Plastics Treaty, joining international scholars at the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in support of a legally binding global treaty to address plastic pollution. In recognition of his research contributions, Dr. Li has been named a Wiley Open Science Excellent Author.

• Doctor of Philosophy, Shandong University, 2018–2023
• Bachelor of Engineering, Jiangsu University, 2014–2018

• Editorial Board Member, Journal of Environmental Management
• Associate Editor, Frontiers in Toxicology
• Youth Editor, iMeta
• Guest Editor, Water

• RGC Junior Research Fellow, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2025–2026
• Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2023–2025
• Visiting Scholar, Freie Universität Berlin, 2024–2024
• Research Assistant & Co-supervised PhD student, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, 2021–2022