I am currently a Ph.D. student in Schluter lab at the University of British Columbia.

I grew up in South Taiwan, where the blooming biodiversity inspired me to dream of becoming a biologist. My enthusiasm for evolutionary study then started to sprout soon after learning about Darwin’s theory and Dawkins’ gene-centered view of evolution.

I finished my bachelor and master in Dr. Wen-Ya Ko’s lab at National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan, where I studied the conservation genetics of an endangered bat species. Through this study, I was intrigued by how incipient species could develope into mature and isolated species. Therefore, I decided to take a detour to speciation problems for my doctoral research. I am now working on the speciation genomics of the three-spined stickleback.

Outside of my academic career, I am also a keen outdoorsy who enjoys backcountry, rock climbing, and recently skiing. Check the Gallery for photos from some of my favorite trips.

About my name

Kung-Ping is from the old Wade–Giles romanization system and actually sounds more like “Gong-Ping,” here is what it is like in traditional Chinese characters: 林恭平.

I am also happy to be called KP for short.