Welcome! 欢迎!

I am a systematic biologist broadly interested in the study of phylogenetics and evolutionary genomics. My research integrates fieldwork, museum/herbaria collections, and genomic analysis to characterize the patterns and drivers of biodiversity. I am trained as a botanist but I love thinking about insects as well. 

​I am currently a Stengl-Wyer Postdoctoral Scholar at UT Austin. My current research is focused on the mito-nuclear co-evolution of parasitic plants. I am co-advised by Dr. Robert K Jansen and Dr. Justin C Havird. Before I came to UT, I did my PhD in the Davis Lab at Harvard University with lots of support from the Edwards Lab and the Pierce Lab. I also worked shortly on plant-insect interaction as a postdoc at UC Riverside during 2020-2021.
News
2022
  • May: New phylogenetic tool announced: PhyloHerb for genome skimming data processing (Github link). Annotating 100 Species in 23 seconds:
2021
  • September: Moving to Austin to officially start my Stengl-Wyer position. Some Orobanchaceae is blooming beautifully here.
  • June and July updates: Liming won the Hamilton award from SSE at Evolution 2021!
    At the Botany meeting, Liming also led a workshop featuring a bioinformatic pipeline for massive processing of genome skimming data for biodiversity research.
  • Mar 26, Liming will give a talk on parasitic plants at Rutgers University on April 21 (virtual of course)! Stay tuned!  
  • Feb 19, Our parasitic plant genome paper is highlighted in ​Science Editor's Choice and the cover of the March issue of Current Biology.​​
  • Feb 3, Liming gave a talk at the Botany department of UC Riverside on parasitic plants
  • Jan 22, Our parasitic plant genome paper is now published in Current Biology. I am so proud of the work!
2020
  • Dec 14, Liming was awarded the Dorothy M. Skinner Award from SICB. This award recognizes women Ph. D. students and postdoctoral fellows who have demonstrated outstanding scholarship and show high potential for continued excellence in research.
  • Sep, Liming joined the Nabity Lab in UC Riverside!​

Contact 


​Email: lmcai@utexas.edu
​​Mailing address:
The University of Texas at Austin
Biological Laboratories
205 W. 24th St. Rm 205
Austin, TX 78712