RuiLiang Zhu is Professor and Head of the Department of Biology at East China Normal University, as well as Curator of the university’s Biological History Museum. He earned his PhD under the supervision of May Ling So at Hong Kong Baptist University and completed his Humboldt funded postdoctoral fellowship with S. R. Gradstein at the University of Göttingen.
He has held several professional appointments, including Director and Vice Director of the Bryology Committee of the Botanical Society of China, Associate Editor for Journal of Systematics and Evolution and Cryptogamie, Bryologie. His research focuses on the taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution of liverworts and hornworts, alongside key moss groups such as Sphagnum and Leucobryum. He has authored more than 200 scientific papers, appearing in journals including Global Change Biology, New Phytologist, Cladistics, and various bryological periodicals.
His monographic treatment of Radula subgen. Amentuloradula, published in Systematic Botany Monographs, was awarded the 2026 Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Prize. In addition to his research work, Zhu is dedicated to bryophyte science outreach.
His short film “Moss” received the Jury Award at the 5th Shanghai International Science Short Film Festival in 2019.
