Why did you decide to become an academic?
Being a scientist is cool. When I was young, I like nature and the diverse natural creatures, and I also love seeing maps, which leads to me to study biogeography and how biodiversity is distributed across the world.

What do you find most fulfilling about your job?
It is always exciting to explore unknown questions. I got satisfied when a challenge was solved that sheds light on previously unknown questions. It is also fulfilling when I know students have learned something from my class.

What are you working on or teaching right now that has your excited professionally?
I am currently studying how climate change and anthropogenic factors affect species geographic distributions globally. One of the courses I teach is GIS programming, which aims to help students develop programming skills for spatial analyses.

Please let us know if there is something that you would like us to share with blog readers (picture, publication, website, favorite book). Otherwise I will find something.
It would be good to attach the link to my website (https://lab.fengxiao.info/home) and Twitter handle (@ecomodeler).

Dr. Xiao Feng is an Assistant Professor of Geography at Florida State University. His research interests include biogeography, ecological niche modeling/species distribution modeling, biodiversity informatics, macroecology, and human-caused environmental changes. You can learn more about Dr. Feng here.