Dr. Li is a sedimentary geologist studying source-to-sink sediment transport. She investigates how topography development, climate evolution, and anthropogenic activities impact continental erosion and sediment transport, which result in a change of signals preserved in sedimentary basins. Specifically, her objective is to interpret continental and climatic signals from coastal and marine geological records and explore how they can be used to reconstruct continental environment and evolving climate. Her current research focuses in the sedimentary records in the Indus Submarine Canyon. She teaches courses in phyiscal geography and geology.
Major methodologies in her research include:
- provenance interpretation using detrital zircon and apatite fission track
- Nd and Sr isotopic analysis
- clay mineral analysis
- 14C dating
- major- and trace-element geochemistry
- grain size analysis
- color reflectance spectral analysis
Dr. Li received her Ph.D. in geology from Louisiana State University. Before joining UNT, she worked at Purdue University as Visiting Assistant Professor. Dr. Li has teaching experience with 13 introductory and upper-level geology and geography courses, ranging from geology, to geography, to energy-related courses.