About
- FREE Lab
- About
Established in February 2016, the laboratory is led by Distinguished Professor Wan-Yu (Nelly) Liu. The laboratory offices, meeting room, and research facilities are located on the second floor of the Forestry Building I, National Chung Hsing University (No. 145, Xingda Rd., South Dist., Taichung City 40227, Taiwan).
Welcome to the Forest Resource Economics and Ecotourism Lab (FREE Lab), where ideas roam free!
At FREE Lab, "FREE" stands for more than just our name - it’s our mindset. We’re a hub of open innovation, creative thinking, and interdisciplinary collaboration, exploring how nature, people, and economics connect in meaningful ways. From forest carbon, ecology, recreation to green finance, we ask bold questions, design playful yet powerful solutions, and invite everyone -researchers, students, and stakeholders- to think outside the canopy.
Our research focuses on forest policy and economics in various fields, including forest recreation, forest valuation, sustainable tourism, environmental and resource economics, and climate change and forest carbon sequestration analysis.
In our lab, every idea has room to grow.
- Research Topics
Environmental Economics
-Forest economics
-Forest modelling and empirical studies
-Forest policy assessment
-Forest ecosystem payment
Climate Change and Carbon Sequestration
-Forest management under climate change
-Forest carbon sequestration contract
-Optimal carbon trading mechanism
Forest Recreation and Ecotourism
-Forest recreation
-Ecotourism / sustainable tourism
-Tourism economics and management
-Leisure benefit evaluation
- Projects
Our research focuses on the sustainable management of environmental and natural resources under climate change. Integrating natural sciences, environmental and resource economics, and advanced data-driven analytical methods, her work forms a policy- and practice-oriented interdisciplinary research framework.
In the most recent five-year period (January 2021–December 2025), she published 33 SCI/SSCI papers, of which 32 were authored as first or corresponding author, reflecting her primary role in study design, analysis, and manuscript preparation. Among these publications, 16 appeared in top-10% journals within their respective fields, and 11 were recommended international journals by the NSTC (National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan) panels in Regional Studies and Geography.
Her research expertise spans three main areas. First, she investigates climate change, natural carbon sinks, and pathways toward net-zero transition, examining the roles of ecosystems in carbon sequestration, carbon markets, and mitigation policies. This work includes cost–benefit analyses of forest carbon sequestration, evaluations of carbon trading and substitution effects, and assessments of how climate risks affect the stability of carbon sinks. Her findings provide quantitative foundations for national carbon management and net-zero policy planning.
Second, she has long been engaged in environmental risk governance under climate change, with particular emphasis on extreme events such as wildfires. By integrating remote sensing data, climate and hydrological information, and statistical, machine learning, and deep learning approaches, she has developed wildfire risk prediction and early-warning models tailored to subtropical monsoon regions. These research outcomes have been directly applied to forest disaster prevention strategies and climate adaptation initiatives in Taiwan.
Third, her research evaluates the economic value and management implications of ecosystem services, addressing how urban forests, agricultural systems, and forest landscapes contribute to human well-being. Her work advances multi-functional ecosystem valuation and examines how ecosystem services can be systematically incorporated into land-use planning and policy decision-making. These studies have been published in leading international journals and provide scientific evidence to support sustainable management and risk-informed decision-making for both government agencies and industry stakeholders.
Overall, her research combines academic originality, policy relevance, and societal impact, contributing to Taiwan’s strategic responses to climate change, net-zero transformation, and natural resource governance.
Laboratory Website: http://wyliu.tw
Laboratory Facilities and Equipment: https://reurl.cc/QVj85M
- Personnel
Laboratory Members: https://wyliu.tw/students.html
(Please allow a moment for the page to load, as the system may take slightly longer to initialize.)