ABOUT ME

I am a postdoctoral researcher working with Prof. Rong Fu in the Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences at UCLA. Before that, I received my Ph.D. degree at Peking University in 2019, and my B.S. degree at Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology (NUIST) in 2013. 

My main research interests are fire weather and drought over the Western US, Great Plains, and Amazon Basin, attribution of internal variability and anthropogenic warming, land-atmosphere coupling, shallow-to-deep convection transition, remote sensing of cloud, and application of statistical and machine learning methods. 

I have authored and co-authored 18 publications in top peer-reviewed journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP), Journal of Hydrometeorology (JHM), Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (JGRA), and Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences (JAS). I am also a reviewer for 16 peer-reviewed journals, including PNAS, Environmental Research Letters (ERL), Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), Communication Earth & Environment, etc., and a reviewer for the NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP).

In particular, two of my recent works (Zhuang et al. 2021; Turco et al. 2023) that quantify climate change's impact on the increasing fire weather risk over the Western US/California were published and highlighted in PNAS and received extensive coverage by various news outlets; both have high Altmetric Attention Scores that rank top 1% among all articles published in PNAS; Zhuang et al. 2021 was recognized as one of the University of California’s 10 Best Research Stories of 2021 and referenced by Congressman Casten from Illinois at the House Science Committee Hearing to support his amendment to H.R.5781, the "National Wildland Fire Risk Reduction Program Act".

My CV  |  My Google Scholar  |  My ResearchGate  |  Prof. Rong Fu's Research Group

▪ Mar 28, 2024: Check out our new paper, Wang et al. 2024 (as corresponding author), published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. It highlights the role of lower-tropospheric humidity in land-atmosphere coupling under dry soil conditions in the US Southern Great Plains. 

▪ Mar 14, 2024: Invited talk at UCLA AOS 271 Seminar: Atmospheric Dynamics. "Impacts of Atmospheric Circulation and Anthropogenic Warming on Drought and Wildfire Risk in the Western US". (Recording)

▪ Feb 06, 2024: Check out my new paper, Zhuang & Fu 2024, published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. It proposes a "Self-Organizing Map - Analogue" approach to quantify circulation influence on precipitation anomalies and investigates the role of PDO in precipitation changes in the US Southwest and Great Plains. 

▪ Feb 06, 2024: Heartfelt congratulations to my postdoc advisor, Prof. Rong Fu, on the distinguished honor of being elected as a new member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). (UCLA News)

▪ Jun 20, 2023: Co-authored paper Turco et al. 2023 (PNAS) is highlighted in "In This Issue" of PNAS, Vol. 120, No. 25.

▪ Jun 14, 2023: Interviewed by LA Time: "Wildfire burn areas are getting bigger due to climate change"

▪ May 19, 2023: Received UCLA JIFRESSE Outstanding Leadership/Service Award, for service as a member of the 2022 JIFRESSE Summer Internship Program (JSIP) Organization Committee.

▪ May 9, 2023: Collaborated research published in PNAS: Turco et al. 2023 - Anthropogenic climate change impacts exacerbate summer forest fires in California

▪ Feb 2, 2023: Received the Richard P. & Linda S. Turco Exceptional Research Publication Award at UCLA AOS Award Dinner. 

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