Dr Yanfei Geng
About
Dr Yanfei Geng has been working at Guizhou University since September 2018. She has a PhD in Botany from Yunnan University and a MSc in Botany from Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her doctoral work focused on wild fodder plants in the mithun’s diet (Bos frontalis, also known as gayal and Drung ox, domesticated by Dulong people in Yunnan Province) and how to utilize wild fodder in agroforestry and animal husbandry systems. Her MSc work focused on the food plants used by Naxi people in northwestern Yunnan.
Trained as an ethnobotanist over the past 10 years. Dr Yanfei Geng has been documenting the ethnobotanical knowledge of hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists in Yunnan Province and Guizhou Province in China, elucidating how people use plants and how people conserve plants.
Research interests
Current projects
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), 32260099, ‘Ethnobotany study on Edible Medicinal Plants used by Buyi people, Shui people and Gelao people of Guizhou province’, 2023.1-2026.12
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), 31900275, ‘Ethnobotany study on Non-Camellia tea used by Miao, Buyi and Dong people in Guizhou province’, 2020.1-2022.12
Science and Technology Foundation of Guizhou Province of China, qiankehejichu ZK [2021] General 091, ‘Ethnobotanical study of Labiatae plants in Guizhou’, 2021.4.1-2024.4.1
Previous projects
Special Project of Science and Technology Innovation of Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nutrient cycling, feedback and regulation in agroforestry and animal husbandry systems, 2016.01-2018.12, participant.
Talent Project of Guizhou University, Investigation and green prevention and control of weeds in tea gardens in the main production area of Meitan Cuiya, a geographical indication product, .2019.01-2021.12, host.
Social Survey Project of Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Investigation on the inheritance of traditional Dongba culture of Baidi Naxi nationality, 2013.10-2015.06, host
General Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ethnobotanical studies on traditional edible plants of the Naxi people in northwestern Yunnan, 2013.01-2016.12, participant.
Publications:
Geng Y., Ranjitkar S., Yan Q., He Z., Su B., Gao S., Niu J., Bu D., Xu J. (2020) ‘Nutrient value of wild fodder species and the implications for improving the diet of mithun (Bos frontalis) in Dulongjiang area, Yunnan Province, China’, Plant diversity, 42(6):455-463. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2020.09.007
Geng Y., Hu G., Ranjitkar s., Shi Y., Zhang Y., Wang Y. (2017) ‘The implications of ritual practices and ritual plant uses on nature conservation: A case study among the Naxi in Yunnan Province, Southwest China’, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 13: 58. doi: 10.1186/s13002-017-0186-3
Geng Y., Hu G., Ranjitkar S., Wang Y., Bu D., Pei S., Ou X., Lu Y., Ma X., Xu J. (2017) ‘Prioritizing fodder species based on traditional knowledge: A case study of mithun (Bos frontalis) in Dulongjiang area, Yunnan Province, Southwest China’, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 13: 24. doi: 10.1186/s13002-017-0153-z.
Geng Y., Zhang Y., Ranjitkar S., Huai H., Wang Y. (2016) ‘Traditional knowledge and its transmission of wild edibles used by the Naxi in Baidi Village, northwest Yunnan province’, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 12:10. doi: 10.1186/s13002-016-0082-2.
Zhang Y., Geng Y., Zhang L., Wang L., He L., Wang C., Chai Z., Fan R., Li S., Wang Y. (2015) ‘Finding New Sources from “Using Different Plants as the Same Herb”: A Case Study of Huang-lian in Northwest Yunnan, China’, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 169: 413-425. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2015.04.051.
Supervision
Xiaofeng Long-Excavation and Adaptability of Non-Camellia Tea Plants of Buyi and Miao Nationality in Guizhou
Huan Wu- Ethnobotanical Research on Forest Tea Garden in Guizhou
Professional
Member of Botanical Society of China
Member of Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge