Environmental Frontiers Research Assistant, 2026
Runpeng (Via) Lian is a first-year undergraduate student at the University of Chicago, double-majoring in Environmental Science and Biological Sciences with a specialization in Computational Biology. Via is broadly interested in computational ecology and hopes to study how quantitative and computational approaches can help us better understand ecological and environmental systems. Within this area, they are especially interested in data science, statistics, and coding as tools for research. Via is also currently learning Geographic Information Science.
Before joining Environmental Frontiers, Via worked on research related to genetics and non-small cell lung cancer, as well as an experimental project on plant growth conditions. In the future, Via hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in computational ecology or a related field.