Chuan Liao

As a human–environment scientist, Dr. Chuan Liao studies land system governance—how institutions, markets, states, communities, and changing patterns of access to and control over land shape environmental and development outcomes. He earned a BS in Natural Resources from Beijing Normal University (2010) and an MS/PhD in Natural Resources from Cornell University (2012, 2015). He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan (2015–2018) and later served as Assistant Professor at Arizona State University until 2022.

His research examines how institutions and technological change reshape land systems and human–environment well-being in the United States and across the Global South. His work spans agrifood systems, sustainability transitions, drylands, and climate adaptation, with a focus on how governance shapes social and environmental outcomes. He combines statistical, spatial, and other quantitative approaches to study these dynamics across scales. His research has appeared in Nature Sustainability, Nature Food, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Nature Human Behaviour, Nature Communications, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, among other journals.

He served as Editor-in-Chief of World Development in 2021 and 2022, and sits on the editorial boards of Journal of Peasant Studies and World Development Sustainability. He was a Coordinating Lead Author of the IPBES Transformative Change Assessment. His work on climate-adaptive rice systems in New York State was featured during a visit by Senator Gillibrand. His research has been funded by National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Agriculture.