About

I am an Earth system scientist using coastal systems as a natural laboratory to understand how resilience, feedbacks, and predictability emerge under climate change and extreme environmental stress.

My research centers on a core question: How do processes interacting across the coastal transition zone shape, and are reshaped by, climate forcing and episodic extremes? I focus on tightly coupled physical and biogeochemical dynamics that regulate system reorganization, including inundation and flooding processes, saltwater intrusion, carbon cycling, tidal wetlands functions, and benthic-pelagic coupling.

Methodologically, I develop cross-scale process-based numerical models, and integrate them with data-driven and machine learning approaches to study complex coastal systems across spatial and temporal scales. My work includes building biogeochemical and ecological components within the open-source 3D SCHISM framework, and leveraging large observational and model-generated datasets to diagnose system behavior, test mechanistic hypotheses, and advance predictive understanding of coastal Earth system processes.

Research Theme & Vision

Transforming coastal dynamics under climate change and human pressure

  • Inundation dynamics and wetland evolution
  • Saltwater intrusion and upland hydrology

    • Biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem reorganization in a warming climate

  • Intertidal zone: wetland biogeochemistry and greenhouse gas fluxes
  • Shallow water systems: benthic-pelagic coupling
  • Estuaries and coasts: carbon cycling and eutrophication dynamics

    • Predictive coastal science through integrative modeling and big data

  • Cross-scale, process-based Earth system model
  • Machine learning for coastal studies

    • Publications

    Full list of publications at Google Scholar.

    Defending Saltwater Intrusion: The Freshwater Pushback
    [preprint]

    Recognizing Salt Wave Events in Coastal Systems
    [preprint]

    Seesaw of Saltwater and Inundation Drives Methane Emissions in Coastal Tidal Wetlands
    [preprint]

    A Seamless Two-Decade Cross-Scale Model from the North American Atlantic Coast to Tidal Wetlands
    [paper]

    Sea-level Rise Impacts on Tidal Marshes and Estuarine Biogeochemical Processes
    [paper]

    The Roles of Tidal Marshes in the Estuarine Biogeochemical Processes
    [paper]

    Bifurcate Responses of Tidal Range to Sea-level Rise in Estuaries with Marsh Evolution
    [paper] [supplementary]

    Impacts of Sea Level Rise on Hypoxia and Phytoplankton Production
    [paper]

    Simulations of Hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay Using an Unstructured Grid Model: Importance of Bathymetry Representation
    [paper]

    Impact of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation on Water Quality
    [paper]

    Datasets & Models

    Teaching

    Introductory Courses

    • Introduction to Earth System Science
    • Global Environmental Change

    Upper-Level Courses

    • Estuarine Hydrodynamics
    • Biogeochemical Cycles

    Interdisciplinary Courses

    • Data Driven Modeling in Earth and Environmental Science [syllabus]
    • Coastal Processes in a Changing Environment [syllabus]

    CV & Bio

    Full CV pdf here, Nov 2025.

    Education

    • 2022, Ph.D., Marine Science, William & Mary | VIMS
    • 2018, M.S., Marine Science, William & Mary | VIMS
    • 2015, B.S., Oceanography, Nanjing University

    Professional Experience

      Yale University

    • NSF Ocean Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow at School of the Environment
    • Mentors: Pete Raymond (Yale), Holly Michael (UD), Matt Kirwan (VIMS), Sergio Fagherazzi (BU)
    • Aug. 2024 - present

      • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

    • ORISE Fellow at Chesapeake Bay Program Office
    • Aug. 2021 – Jul. 2024

      • University of Oldenburg, Germany

    • International Visiting Fellow at Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment
    • Host: Jörg-Olaf Wolff
    • Fall, 2017

      • William & Mary | Virginia Institute of Marine Science

    • Graduate Research Assistant at Department of Physical Oceanography
    • Advisors: Joseph Zhang, Jian Shen
    • Aug. 2015 – Jul. 2021