Zhen ZHANG
I am a coastal ecologist and geographer currently working as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Tulane University.
My research centers on how coastal ecosystems, especially mangrove forests, respond to global change across regional to global scales. Using satellite data, spatial analysis, and ecological modeling, I investigate long-term changes in coastal ecosystem structure, function, and resilience. My broader goal is to uncover general ecological patterns and mechanisms in the land-sea interface through the integration of Earth observation and ecological theory. In my spare time, I enjoy playing the guitar and taking photographs.
🔥 News
- 2026.04: My work on global mangrove dynamics was accepted in Science.
- 2025.12: I gave a presentation titled Dynamics in mangrove structure and carbon uptake under global change at the Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
- 2025.12: Presented my research on global mangrove dynamics at the 2025 AGU Fall Meeting as an invited talk.
- 2025.12: Served as the primary convener of the session Evaluating Blue Carbon Across the Tropical/Subtropical Seascape at the 2025 AGU Fall Meeting.
- 2025.10: Two of my studies were cited on page 124 of the Global Tipping Points Report 2025 as evidence that mangroves may represent a localized tipping point ecosystem.
- 2025.06: My work on mangrove growth and ENSO was published in Nature Geoscience.
🏛️ Academic Appointment:
- 2024.03-:Postdoctoral research fellow at Tulane University, USA.
🎓 Education:
- 2019.09-2023.06:Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Fujian, China
- 2021.11-2022.12:Visting student, National University of Singapore, Singapore
- 2016.09-2019.06:Master of Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, Nanjing Agriculture University, Jiangsu, China
- 2012.09-2016.06:Bachelor of Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, Chuzhou University, Anhui, China