Yang Zhang

COE Distinguished Professor and Associate Chair for Research,  Civil and Environmental Engineering

Contact

Office

  • 465 Snell Engineering Center
  • 617.373.3503

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Research Focus

Air quality; atmospheric chemistry; cloud/aerosol microphysics; sensitivity and uncertainty analysis; multiscale atmospheric modeling and forecasting; climate and Earth system modeling; health impact assessment; eco-environmental sustainability; human-Earth system interactions

About

Dr. Zhang specializes in atmospheric and environmental research at the interface of Earth system sciences that crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries including energy, air, water, land, ocean, and human health.  Over the years, Dr. Zhang has contributed to the development, improvement, application, and evaluation of major 3-D air quality, climate, and Earth system models on urban, regional, and global scales such as STEM III, GChM, MIRAGE, SCICHEM, CMAQ, CMAQ-MADRID, CAMx, MM5, WRF, and mesoscale and global-through-urban WRF/Chem, WRF/Chem-MADRID, WRF-CAM5, WRF/Chem-ROMS, and CESM/CAM5. Her group has also worked on Street-in-Grid models such as SinG, hydrological models such as WaSSI, and health modeling tools such as BenMAP-CE.

Dr. Zhang has devoted sustained efforts to solve some of the most pressing and challenging environment- and energy-related scientific and technical issues related to air and water pollution, acid deposition, global warming and other adverse climate change, as well as associated adverse human health and ecosystem impacts. Dr. Zhang’s research advances the scientific understanding of major atmospheric and environmental issues by developing and utilizing numerical models and analysis tools at various scales (from local to global) to address relevant science and policy questions pertaining to controlling air pollution, mitigating adverse climate change and human health, and minimizing environmental damages in the entire Earth system.

Education

  • 1994 PhD in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at University of Iowa
  • 1988 BS in Environmental Engineering at Tsinghua University

Honors & Awards

  • 2025 Distinguished Faculty Award
  • 2025 Faculty Research Team Award – iSUPER Impact Engine
  • Member of the Academia Europaea (elected in 2023)
  • The 2017-2018 RTI University Scholar Awards, 2018
  • The FAPESP (The São Paulo Research Foundation, Brazil) Visiting Researcher Program Award, visiting professorship at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2017
  • The University of Wollongong (UOW) Vice – Chancellors Visiting International Scholar Award (VISA), 2017
  • Fellowship Award, visiting professorship at the Atmospheric Environment Center (CEREA), Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, Paris, France, 2017
  • Scholarship Award for Teacher-Researchers and Researchers and Visiting Scholars, the University of Paris-Est, Paris, France, 2017
  • National Science Foundation Career Award, 2004

Professional Affiliations

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • American Meteorological Society (AMS)
  • Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society
  • American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Research Overview

Air quality; atmospheric chemistry; cloud/aerosol microphysics; sensitivity and uncertainty analysis; multiscale atmospheric modeling and forecasting; climate and Earth system modeling; health impact assessment; eco-environmental sustainability; human-Earth system interactions

Dr. Zhang’s research focuses on the development, improvement, and evaluation of the state-of-the-science numerical models for simulating human-induced air pollution and its impact on human health, climate, eco-environment, society, and the entire Earth system. It spans from urban to global and from air quality to human health/climate change/Earth system and covers retrospective and forecasting applications. Using an interdisciplinary research approach, her group applies these models with advanced representations of chemical, physical, and meteorological processes in the atmosphere/Earth system in the U.S. and other areas in the world on multiple scales to solve the most pressing and challenging environment- and energy-related issues including air and water pollution, acid deposition, ecosystem degradation, global warming, and other adverse climate change, as well as associated adverse human health and ecosystem impacts.

Selected Research Projects

  • U.S. EPA Air, Climate and Energy (ACE) Centers: Solutions for Energy, AiR, Climate, and Health (SEARCH): Project 3: Improving Projections of the Spatial and Temporal Changes of Multi-Pollutants to Enhance Assessment of Public Health in a Changing World
    • – Principal Investigator, SEARCH, U.S. EPA
  • Towards Optimal Configurations of NAQFC Chemistry and Aerosol Representations
    • – Principal Investigator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • Framework: Software: Collaborative Research: CyberWater an Open and Sustainable Framework for Diverse Data and Model Integration with Provenance and Access to HPC
    • – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation

Selected Publications

  • Hong, Chaopeng, Mueller, Nathaniel D., Burney, Jennifer A., Zhang, Yang, AghaKouchak, Amir, Moore, Frances C., Qin, Yue, Tong, Dan, Davis, Steven J. (2020). Impacts of ozone and climate change on yields of perennial crops in California. Nature Food, 1(3),166-172. 10.1038/S43016-020-0043-8
  • Yang, P.-L., Y. Zhang, K. Wang, P. Doraiswamy, and S.-H. Cho, 2019, Health Impacts and Cost-Benefit Analyses of Surface O3 and PM2.5 over the U.S. under Future Climate and Emission Scenarios, Environmental Research, 178, November 2019, 108687, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.108687.
  • Hong, C.-P., Q. Zhang, Y. Zhang, S. J. Davis, S. J. Davis, D. Tong, Y.-X. Zheng, Z. Liu, D.-B. Guan, K.-B. He, and H. J. Schellnhuber, 2019, Impacts of climate change on future air quality and human health in China, PNAS, August issue, 1-8, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1812881116.
  • Duan, K., P. V. Caldwell, G. Sun, S. G. McNulty, Y. Zhang, E. Shuster, B. Liu, and P. V. Bolstad, 2019, Understanding the role of regional water connectivity in mitigating climate change impacts on surface water supply stress in the United States, Journal of Hydrology, 570: 80-95, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.01.011.
  • Goldberg, D.L., P. Gupta, K. Wang, C. Jena, Y. Zhang, Z.-F. Lu, and D. G. Streets, 2019, Using gap-filled MAIAC AOD and WRF-Chem to estimate daily PM2.5 concentrations at 1 km resolution in the eastern United States, Atmos. Environ., 199, 443-452, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.11.049.
  • Zhang, J.-X., Y. Gao, K. Luo, L. R. Leung, Y. Zhang, K. Wang and J.-R. Fan, 2018, Impacts of compound extreme weather events on ozone in the present and future, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 9861–987.
  • Campbell, P., F. Yan, Z.-F. Lu, Y. Zhang, D. Streets, 2018, Impacts of Transportation Sector Emissions on Future U.S. Air Quality in a Changing Climate. Part II: Air Quality Projections and the Interplay between Emissions and Climate Change, Environmental Pollution, 238:918-930. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.03.016.
  • Wang, K., Y. Zhang, X. Zhang, J.-W. Fan, L. R. Leung, B. Zheng, Q. Zhang, and K.-B. He, 2018, Fine-Scale Application of WRF-CAM5 during a dust storm episode over East Asia: Sensitivity to grid resolutions and aerosol activation parameterizations, Atmospheric Environment, 176, 1-20, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.12.014.
  • Zhang, Y., J. He, and K. Wang, 2017, Multi-Year Application of WRF-CAM5 over East Asia- Part II. Interannual Variability, Trend Analysis, and Aerosol Indirect Effects, Atmospheric Environment, 165, 222–239, 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.06.029.
  • Glotfelty, T., J. He, and Y. Zhang, 2017, Improving Organic Aerosol Treatments in CESM/CAM5: Development, Application, and Evaluation, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 9(2), 1506–1539, DOI: 10.1002/2016MS000874.
  • Yahya, K., P. Campbell, and Y. Zhang, 2017, Decadal Application of WRF/Chem for Regional Air Quality and Climate Modeling over the U.S. under the Representative Concentration Pathways Scenarios. Part 2: Current vs. Future simulations, Atmospheric Environment, 152, 584–604, doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.12.028.

Students

Feb 07, 2025

Spring 2025 PEAK Experiences Awardees for Undergrad Research

Several COE, COS, and Khoury students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of the Spring 2025 PEAK Experiences Awards from Northeastern’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.

Faculty

Jan 31, 2025

2024 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations

The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above. The list below includes those who published a paper in 2024 or later.

Faculty

Jan 30, 2025

Faculty and Staff Awards 2025

Faculty and staff were recognized at the 27th Annual College of Engineering Faculty and Staff Awards for their exceptional service and dedication in support of students, the COE community, and the university during the 2024-2025 academic year.

Faculty

Dec 07, 2023

2023 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations

The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above.

Faculty

Jul 03, 2023

How Clean Is the Air in Your Neighborhood? This New Northeastern Project Aims To Find Out

CEE Professor Yang Zhang, who leads the interdisciplinary impact engine team iSUPER, is installing over 100 stationary pollution sensors in Brookline and Chelsea and using a mobile lab to measure air quality block-by-block in Greater Boston municipalities. She aims to identify hyperlocal pollutant hotspots and support strategies to reduce air pollution.

Faculty

Nov 02, 2022

2022 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations

A group of COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above.

Faculty

Sep 26, 2022

Impact Engines Spur Multidisciplinary Research Innovation To Solve Global Challenges

Northeastern University has selected its first cohort of Impact Engines to ignite measurable change in problem-solving, three of the five of which are led by engineering faculty.

Faculty

Dec 23, 2021

COE Professors Selected in Stanford University List of Top 2% Scientists Worldwide

The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2 percent of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The […]

Yang Zhang

Faculty

Mar 02, 2021

Atmospheric Modeling Expertise With an Urban Engineering Focus

Joining the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2020 as a Distinguished Fellow, Professor Yang Zhang is focused on atmospheric/climate modeling and air quality forecasting. She brings years of […]

Yang Zhang

Faculty

Feb 19, 2021

Training the Next Generation of Air Quality Forecasters

CEE Professor Yang Zhang worked with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to develop a training book on best practices for air quality monitoring and forecasting.

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