Dr. Qianqian Zhou earned her Ph.D. in Marine Biology from Xiamen University in 2014, where her doctoral research elucidated key molecular pathways underpinning planktonic adaptation to variable coastal environments. Following her graduation, she joined the Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, as an Assistant Research Fellow in 2015, a position she continues to hold. Over the past decade, Dr. Zhou has established herself as a leading investigator in the fields of marine ecology, plankton taxonomy, and the molecular mechanisms of marine organisms. Her early work focused on characterizing stress‑response genes in diatoms exposed to nutrient limitation and light fluctuations, combining transcriptomic analyses with targeted gene editing to reveal conserved regulatory circuits. Building on these findings, she has since expanded her research to examine the ecological consequences of phytoplankton community shifts under seasonal and anthropogenic pressures.

Dr. Zhiyong Liu (b. January 1978) is a Senior Engineer at the Xiamen Marine Center (Xiamen Marine Forecast Station) of the Ministry of Natural Resources. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aquaculture from Jimei University (2001) and earned his Master’s in Environmental Engineering from China Ocean University in 2021. A member of the Fujian Marine Society, Dr. Liu brings over two decades of multidisciplinary experience to the study and management of marine ecosystems. Since joining the Xiamen Marine Center, Dr. Liu has specialized in marine ecological surveys, early‑warning monitoring, and ecological restoration assessment. He leads field campaigns and long‑term observation programs across coastal and offshore waters, focusing on plankton dynamics, zooplankton community structure, and seabird population monitoring. His work integrates in‑situ measurements, remote sensing data, and advanced statistical models to detect ecological perturbations—such as harmful algal blooms or shifts in trophic interactions—before they escalate into environmental crises.

Dr. Weifeng Dong, born in August 1980, is a Senior Engineer at the Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, and serves as a Committee Member of the Marine Ecological Disaster Early Warning Technology Subdivision under the Chinese Ocean Society. He earned his B.Sc. in Ocean Chemistry from China Ocean University in 2002 and has since devoted his career to advancing marine ecological early warning systems and strengthening national capacity for marine disaster prevention and mitigation. Over the past two decades, Dr. Dong has led and contributed to numerous high‐profile research and industry initiatives. He has successfully overseen two sub‑tasks within national public welfare marine projects, two sub‑tasks under the National Key R&D Program, and two projects funded by key laboratory grants. In addition, he spearheaded the development and publication of two marine industry standards for the pretreatment and analytical detection of heavy metal contaminants in seawater and sediment samples—standards that are now widely adopted by Chinese marine monitoring agencies.

Bingpeng Xing is an Associate Researcher at the Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, China. He has devoted his career to studying coastal wetland ecology and deep-sea ecosystems, with a primary focus on the impacts of climate change and biodiversity conservation. His research spans climate change ecology, biodiversity preservation, and the connectivity between deep-sea and coastal ecosystems. As the principal investigator of more than ten provincial and ministerial-level research projects, he has significantly contributed to understanding and protecting coastal environments. Xing is actively engaged in international collaborations with institutions in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and the United States, conducting fieldwork across nearly 20 regions and establishing a strong presence in global coastal wetland research. His work integrates molecular techniques, such as DNA barcoding and environmental DNA (eDNA)—with biodiversity assessments of mangrove, seagrass, and deep-sea ecosystems. His findings have been published in leading international journals including Ecology and Evolution, Zoosystematics and Evolution, Food Control, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, Frontiers in Marine Science, and ZooKeys. His research has deepened the scientific understanding of biodiversity in coastal wetland ecosystems and has influenced conservation strategies and policies.

Professor Shide Luo received his Ph.D. in Information Biology from Xiamen University in 1998, where he trained under the renowned geneticist Professor Wang and conducted pioneering work on the application of mitochondrial genomes to species identification and population genetics of marine fishes. Upon graduation, he joined the faculty of Xiamen University, advancing from Associate Professor to full Professor in the School of Life Sciences and the Marine Biology Research Center. He currently serves as a “Thousand Talents Program” expert and Director of the Institute of Marine Biodiversity at Xiamen University. Professor Luo’s research focuses on the use of mitochondrial DNA techniques to address key questions in marine biodiversity conservation, evolutionary biology, and population structure. He has led over ten projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and provincial ministries and has published more than 80 SCI-indexed articles. As the first or corresponding author, he has contributed dozens of papers to top international journals including Molecular Ecology, Journal of Biogeography, and Conservation Genetics. His team was the first in China to discover and describe three new fish species in the East and South China Seas, providing critical data for understanding regional patterns of marine biodiversity.

Dr. Peng Xiang is a Researcher at the Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, where he has been employed since 2007. He earned his Ph.D. in Marine Biology from Tongji University in 2023, building on more than fifteen years of professional experience in marine science and resource management. His doctoral work focused on the taxonomy and evolutionary history of pelagic micro‑mollusks, with particular emphasis on pteropod (thecosome and gymnosome) assemblages in the East China Sea. Throughout his career at the Third Institute of Oceanography, Dr. Xiang has led numerous field surveys and long‑term monitoring programs to assess spatial and temporal patterns of plankton community structure. He has become a recognized authority on marine plankton biodiversity, integrating traditional morphological identification with cutting‑edge molecular techniques such as DNA barcoding and phylogenomic analyses. His research employs high‑throughput sequencing data to resolve cryptic species complexes, reconstruct lineage divergence times, and elucidate drivers of plankton community turnover in response to environmental change.