Xin Zhang is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The goal of Xin’s current research is to evaluate how socioeconomic and biogeochemical processes affect the global nitrogen cycle and the sustainability of agricultural production and, in turn, provide policy input on mitigating nitrogen pollution while meeting global food and biofuel demands. Xin’s research approaches are from both natural science, including the Earth System Model and atmospheric measurements, and social science, such as econometrics analysis. Collaborating closely with economists, modelers, and field experimentalists worldwide, Xin has published papers on various peer-reviewed journals, including Nature and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and have received research grants from multiple institutions, including Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and Cooperative Institute for Climate Science.
Xin received a B.S. in Environmental Science and a B.S. in Computer Science from Ocean University of China (OUC), an M.A. in Environmental Science from Peking University (2007), and a Ph.D. from Yale University (2012). In addition to the academic education, she has completed internships and projects at various national and international organizations, including the United Nations and China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection.