About Our Team

Yingqiu is a Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow on Contemporary Asia at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of technology, innovation, power politics, and global governance, with a particular focus on Asia's role in the global digital revolution and governance. She is currently completing her book project, A Mosaic of Mundane Innovations: Emerging Powers, Multinational Firms, and Global 5G Technology Rules, which explores how latecomer economies such as China and South Korea have emerged as pivotal actors in global technology governance.

Growing up in Sichuan, pandas have always held a special place in Yingqiu's life. Watching them has been a personal escape—an opportunity to unwind from academia and reconnect with something pure and joyful. Now, this simple passion has evolved into something much larger. Through Pandatabase, Yingqiu aims to bridge political science research with insights from animal studies, conservation, and literature to foster interdisciplinary conversations, mentorship, and meaningful contributions to public understanding of these extraordinary animals and their global journeys.

Jiaqi Yao is a Sessional Lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, specializing in modern Chinese literature, visual, media, and popular culture.

Her first book project, In Search of the Real China: Republican Travelers in the Western Borderlands, 1921–1945, offers a compelling re-evaluation of how China's "authentic" identity was constructed at its periphery. The project argues that this national knowledge emerged not merely from top-down state propaganda, but through a decentralized multimedia network of travelers, publishers, and local elites. Their collective works—including pictorials, films, and travel magazines—transformed encounters in the borderlands into the very authentications of the Chinese nation.

Building on her study of travel and cultural production in the Sino-Tibetan borderland, Yao is developing her second book project, The Softest Power: Pandas in the Modern World. This work explores how the giant panda has become our era's most paradoxical celebrity. Yao examines the cultural power dynamics in transnational narratives of pandas. The animal now exists more vividly in cultural works, zoos, emojis, and livestreams than in the wild, serving as a growing Asian metaphor that illuminates contradictions of nation’s soft power and cultural agency in the contemporary world.

Toby Huang is a versatile technologist with 5+ years of experience spanning full-stack development, machine learning, and engineering management. Having led cross-functional teams to deliver data-driven solutions, mentored junior engineers, and implemented Agile practices to enhance collaboration, he now spearheads the technical architecture, database optimization, and maintenance of the Pandatabase platform. His expertise in React, GraphQL, and cloud technologies has been instrumental in building scalable systems, such as a geographic data visualization platform for public data analysis and high-performance internal communication tools.

Beyond code, Toby's passion for bridging technology and social impact aligns with Pandatabase's mission. As a volunteer providing technical support for NGOs, he has refined his ability to translate complex systems into user-friendly applications. His love for travel and culinary adventures mirrors the team's exploratory spirit—whether savoring local delicacies or untangling codebases, Toby thrives on turning challenges into opportunities for innovation. A dedicated advocate for open-source projects, he believes technology should empower both researchers and the public to engage meaningfully with conservation efforts.