Yantao Li

• Micoalgal molecular biology and lipid biochemistry
• Metabolic engineering for biofuels and bioproducts
• Microalgal biotechnology and environmental bioremediation

Dr. Yantao Li received his B.S. from Nanjing University, P.R. China and Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Hong Kong and subsequently at the Department of Applied Biological Sciences at Arizona State University. Beginning in 2009 Dr. Li served as an Assistant research professor at Arizona State University. He assumed his position as Assistant Professor at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET)in 2012, affiliated with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) and UMBC. Dr. Li was promoted to tenured Associate Professor in 2018 and to the rank of Professor at UMCES in 2025.

Dr. Li’s research interest is in the area of microalgal biology and biotechnology, with the goal to understand lipid synthesis, turnover, and lipid body biogenesis in microalgae, to rationally engineer algae for biofuel and high-value products such as carotenoids and omega-3 fatty acids, and to biochemically convert algal feedstock into biofuels.