Jhih-Rong Liao

Dr. Jhih-Rong Liao is a post-doctoral fellow at National Taiwan University, Taiwan, who has a deep interest in mite taxonomy (Phytoseiidae) and the identification of mites using artificial intelligence. Liao fell in love with Acarology when he was first introduced to the study of these beautiful creatures, back in 2008. Upon learning about the high demand for mite experts in Taiwan, he started to dedicate himself to the taxonomy of Phytoseiidae, He already published various numbers of papers (18 full-text) in international SCI-E journals during his Ph.D. In these papers, he described 5 new phytoseiid species and re-described 5 new records from Taiwan. Besides, he also described 11 new oribatid species and re-described 66 new records from Taiwan. His life-long goal is to educate the public on mites, contribute to fundamental research (e.g. mite identification) for plant protection, and just keep studying those fascinating animals for the rest of his life.