Changsheng Li received his Bachelor's degree in Geochemistry from University of Science and Technology of China in 1964, Master's degree in Environmental Chemistry from Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1981, and Ph.D. degree in Biogeochemistry from Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of Wisconsin in 1985. He organized the first interdisciplinary research team to study effects of trace elements on human health in China in 1968. He has been devoted to biogeochemical and environmental studies since. He was Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (1985-1987), and senior official of National Environmental Protection Agency of China (1988-1989). In 1992 he moved to the University of New Hampshire where he is now Research Professor in the Complex Systems Research Center within the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space.

His academic interest is to explore the theories and methodologies which can be used for revealing relationship between humankind and their environment. Dr. Li has been focusing his study on biogeochemical cycling of chemical elements, especially its numerical expression in time and space. He has developed several biogeochemical models to describe the cycling of trace or abundant chemical elements and their effects on human health, natural resources, or environment. During the last 15 years, Dr. Li was engaged in the development of a nitrogen and carbon biogeochemical model. The Denitrification-Decomposition (DNDC) model has included the most fundamental driving forces and processes in soils that enable it to predict C and N dynamics under various climate, soil, land-use and management conditions in agricultural ecosystems. The model is currently being used for the studies of trace gas emissions, fertilizer efficiency, crop production, and water N contamination. More elements and ecosystems are expected to merge into his efforts.