Second class researcher, doctoral supervisor, and a member of the Scientific Committee on Endangered Species of the People's Republic of China. He has long been engaged in ichthyological research on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, insisting on the view that biological evolution is synchronized with the evolution of the Earth, paying particular attention to revealing the influence of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and global changes on the regional differentiation of freshwater fishes in China from the perspective of macrobiology. He revealed the impact of biological invasion on the distribution pattern of freshwater fishes in China and that higher fecundity and longer lifespan are important mechanisms for the successful invasion of freshwater fishes; he elucidated the important role of Quaternary climate fluctuations in shaping the phylogeographic pattern and population history of species on the Tibetan Plateau, and clarified the highest ice age refuge for fishes-Selincuo Lake; demonstrate the periodicity of otolith increment of fishes on the Tibetan Plateau, and for the first time have constructed a 40-year-long chronology of plateau fish growth index and quantified the changes of plateau fish reproductive phenology from 1970s to 2000s, and the different impacts of climate change on river and lake fishes, which provide direct evidence and new research avenues for developing and revealing the impacts of global changes on the Tibet Plateau and how fish and other aquatic organisms respond to climate change. He has published nearly 200 papers. 

1. Liu, C., Diagne, C., Angulo, E., Banerjee, A.-K., Chen, Y., Cuthbert, R.N., …, Courchamp F. Economic costs of biological invasions in Asia. Neobiota, 2021, 67: 53-78. 

2. Jia, Y., Jiang, Y., Liu, Y., Sui, X., Feng, X., Zhu, R., Chen, Y. Understanding trophic structure variation in fish assemblages of subtropical shallow lakes: Combined effects of ecosystem size, productivity, and disturbance. Ecological Indicators, 2021, 129: 107924. 

3. Zhang, C., Zhu, R., Sui, X., Li, X., Chen, Y. Understanding patterns of taxonomic diversity, functional diversity, and ecological drivers of fish fauna in the Mekong River. Global Ecology and Conservation, 2021, 28: e01711. 

4. Jia, Y., Jiang, Y., Liu, Y., Sui, X., Feng, X., Zhu, R., Li, K., Chen, Y. Unravelling fish community assembly in shallow lakes: Insights from functional and phylogenetic diversity. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 2021, DOI: 10.1007/s11160-021-09688-2. 

5. Jia, Y., Jiang, Y., Liu, Y., Sui, X., Feng, X., Zhu, R., Chen, Y. Understanding invasion success of Pseudorasbora parva in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Insights from life-history and environmental filters. Science of the Total Environment, 2021, 694:133739. 

6. Ding, C., He, D., Chen, Y., Jia, Y., Tao, J. Otolith microstructure analysis based on wild young fish and its application in confirming the first annual increment in Tibetan Gymnocypris selincuoensis. Fisheries Research, 2020, 221: 105386. 

7. Sun, H., He, D., Sui, X., Chen, Y. Predicting impacts of future climate change and hydropower development towards habitats of native and non-native fishes. Science of the Total Environment, 2020, 707: 135419. 

8. Chen, K., Jia, Y., Xiong, X., Sun, H., Zhu, R., Chen, Y. Integration of taxonomic distinctness indices into the assessment of headwater streams with a high altitude gradient and low species richness along the upper Han River. Ecological Indicators, 2020, 112: 101106. 

9. Jia, Y., Sui, X., Chen, Y., He, D. Climate change and spatial distribution shaped the life-history traits of schizothoracine fishes on the Tibetan Plateau and its adjacent areas. Global Ecology and Conservation, 2020, 22: e01041. 

10. Zhang, C., Zhu, R., Sui, X., Chen, K., Li, B., Chen, Y. Ecological use of vertebrate surrogate species in ecosystem conservation. Global Ecology and Conservation, 2020, 24: e01344. 

11. Feng, X., Chen, Y., Sui, X., Chen, Y. The complete mitochondrial genome of Triplophysa sellaefer (Cypriniformes: Balitoridae). Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 2019, 4(1): 536-537. 

12. Feng, X., Chen, Y., Sui, X., Chen, Y. The complete mitochondrial genome of Triplophysa cuneicephala (Cypriniformes: Balitoridae) with phylogenetic consideration. Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 2019. 4(1): 1239-1240. 

13. Jia, Y., Liu, Y., Chen, K., Sun, H., Chen, Y. Climate, habitat and human disturbance driving the variation of life-history traits of the invasive goldfish Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) in a Tibetan Plateau river. Aquatic Invasions, 2019, 14(4): 724-737. 

14. Feng, X., Jia, Y., Zhu, R., Chen, K., Chen, Y. Characterization and analysis of the transcriptome in Gymnocypris selincuoensis on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau using single-molecule. DNA Research, 2019, 26(4): 353-363. 

15. Liu, C., Comte, L., Xian, W., Chen, Y., Olden, J. D. Current and projected future risks of freshwater fish invasions in China. Ecography, 2019, 42:2074–2083.  

16. Tao, J., Kennard, M. J., Jia, Y., Chen, Y. Climate-driven synchrony in growth-increment chronologies of fish from the world's largest high-elevation river. Science of The Total Environment, 2018, 645: 339-346. 

17. Feng, X., He, D., Sui, X., Chen, Y., Chen, Y. Morphological and genetic divergence between lake and river populations of Triplophysa in Ngangtse Co, Tibet. Mitochondrial DNA Part A, 2018, 29(5): 778-784. 

18. Liu, C., Comte, L., Olden, J. D. Heads you win, tails you lose: Life‐history traits predict invasion and extinction risk of the world's freshwater fishes. Aquatic Conserv: Mar Freshw Ecosyst, 2017, 1-7. 

19. Liu, C., He D., Chen Y., Olden J. D. Species invasions threaten the antiquity of China’s freshwater fish fauna. Diversity and Distributions, 2017, 23:556–566. 

20. Liang, Y., He, D., Jia, Y., Sun, H., Chen, Y. Phylogeographic studies of schizothoracine fishes on the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau reveal the highest known glacial microrefugia. Scientific Reports, 2017, 8: 1-9. 

21. Tao, J., He, D., Kennard, M. J. Strong evidence for changing fish reproductive phenology under climate warming on the Tibetan Plateau. Global Change Biology, 2017, 24:2093-2103.  

22. Sui, X., Chen, Y. Lu, Z. Chen, Y. A bibliometric analysis of research papers related to the Mekong River. Scientometrics, 2015, 105(1): 419-434. 

23. Xiong, W., Sui, X., Liang, S., Chen, Y. Non-native freshwater fish species in China. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 2015, 25(4): 651-687.