Ling was born in Loudi, Hunan, China. She received a B.S. in Pharmaceutical Engineering in 2006 from Beijing Institute of Technology. As an undergraduate, she undertook a project investigating the interactions between anti-cancer small molecules and human serum albumin under Professor Yalin Tang in Institute of Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences before graduating in July of 2006. Ling joined the Taylor group in the spring of 2008. Her current research focuses on the characterization and investigation of new PCA superfamily dioxygenases.