Li Kui is Project Scientist in the Marine Science Institute and the Earth Research Insitute at University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). She received her PhD in Environmental Sciences from the State University of New York, Environmental Science and Forestry. Her PhD research focused on the reciprocal influences between river disturbance regimes (flooding and sediment transport) and riparian vegetation abundance and diversity, from flume-scale study at UC Berkeley to watershed scale on the Bill Williams River in Arizona. She is currently working with SCI-CLAWPS on research within the Santa Clara River basin in Southern California to improve understanding in how prolonged drought affects riparian forests in a groundwater dependent ecosystems. This work is funded by US National Science Foundation (NSF) and The Nature Conservancy. Li Kui is also data manager for Santa Barbara Coastal Long-term Ecological Research project funded by NSF and Santa Barbara Channel Marine Biodiversity Observation Network.