Prof. Li Zhang is a Chinese bryologist and research professor at the Shenzhen Fairy Lake Botanical Garden. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong in 2001. Earlier in his career, he worked at the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as a Research Associate at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and as a postdoctoral fellow at Southern Illinois University, USA.
His research focuses on bryophyte taxonomy, diversity, biogeography and conservation, with extensive fieldwork throughout China, particularly on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and in the karst regions of southwestern China, as well as in several other parts of the world. Since joining Fairy Lake Botanical Garden in 2006, he and his team have built an important bryophyte collection comprising tens of thousands of specimens.
Li Zhang has contributed extensively to the documentation of Chinese bryophyte diversity and has authored or co-authored numerous scientific papers and books, including Bryophyte Flora of Guangdong, Bryophyte Flora of Macao, and several field guides and popular works introducing bryophytes to a broader audience. Science communication and environmental education form an important part of his activities, and he has received national recognition in China for his contribution to the 
popularization of botanical science.
He has also played an active role in the international bryological community and has served as Chair of the Bryological Committee of the Botanical Society of China. In 2021, he received the Riclef Grolle Award for Excellence in Bryodiversity Research from the International Association of Bryologists, becoming the second Chinese bryologist to receive this distinction.
