Ling brings over sixteen years of filmmaking experience to her teaching. This filmmaking experience is wide-ranging – including her work as a self-shooting camera person and as a feature-length Editor and Director.

The locations and situations she has worked in have taught her to be adaptable – whether that means working in high-risk environments or collaborating with sensitive, fragile subjects. This explorative spirit is manifested in her teaching; her students are encouraged to experiment with the documentary form and to challenge their visual approach in order to maximise their storytelling abilities. She celebrates each student’s individual voice and works with them to unveil their hidden potential.

Her natural ability to communicate and connect with others means that she frequently collaborates with international filmmakers, mentors others, participates in jury awards, and is invited to give public talks. In addition to her role at the Edinburgh College of Art, Ling has taught at the National Film & Television School and the Scottish Documentary Institute.

Ling's practice-based research is focused on documentary filmmaking and the exploratory use of inter-related cinematic tools – such as visual language, sound design, and music – for narrative and emotional communication. Guiding this process is the aim to connect with the audience in order to facilitate wider outreach and impact.

This line of creative inquiry was at the centre of her most recent film – 'Surviving Translation' (2023) – which focuses on the mistranslation of female refugees who have lived through traumatic experiences such as gender-based violence in their home countries or during their difficult journeys to the UK. Unable to be truly heard or understood, these women find themselves without a voice or even an identity. The film aims to give some of these individuals a voice and reveal the human beings who are caught up in these events. The film is currently travelling internationally and nationally in order to encourage discussions and achieve impact. It has already been used by public sector organisations and charities to increase understanding and promote positive change.

More broadly, Ling's interest is in crossover cultures and the individuals who find themselves existing within constantly changing environments. Her ability to connect with people and help them to express their inner desires and conflicts allows her to explore meaningful human stories. And regardless of constraints, Ling's focus remains steadfastly on capturing these stories and creating the ideal cinematic language to convey them to the audience – thereby facilitating the impact that motivates her initial enquiry.

Ling is a working filmmaker and a passionate teacher who is dedicated to unlocking the potential of the filmmakers she works with. Her varied film experience which includes visual arts, installations, and documentary has further augmented her naturally broad approach to the interpretation and exploration of the documentary film form.

Her current research is based around an examination of phenomenological impermanence within individual, societal, and environmental contexts. The centre of this research is a hybrid documentary which is focused on the language, culture, and natural environment of the Scottish Islands. The film is a further exploration of the boundaries of cinematic storytelling which weaves together multiple time periods and lost personal experiences.