Principle Investigator
Dr. Han Wang is a quantitative plant ecologist. She is interested in mathematically predicting the responses of plants and ecosystems and to environmental changes from first-principles, such as the optimality hypotheses rooted in natural selection. By expanding the role of theory in ecology, she aims to understand the links between the acclimation/adaptation of plant ecophysiological processes, the evolution of plants and the succession of ecosystem and even earth system.
Email: wang_han@tsinghua.edu.cn
Post Doctors
Jian Zhou got his PhD degree in Department of Earth System Sciences, Tsinghua University, and had a Postdoc experience in Department of Ecology, Peking University. He has a wide range of interests in theoretical ecology and is now working on forst structural dynamics, ecological optimality in height gradients of forest canopy, and equilibrium and stability of global carbon cycle. He is also interested in applying ecological principles to the construction and maintenance of closed life support systems.
Email: jianzhou120@gmail.com
Yongqiang Wang is interested in forest ecology and plant hydraulic traits, with a major focus on understanding the dynamic processes (productivity) of forest communities, the growth and mortality of tree species across different habitats. At present, his research revolves the intraspecific variation of plant stem-leaf traits and the synergy of this variation based on individual traits and neighborhood structure, and the relationship between trait variation and the dynamics of plant growth and death. Yongqiang Wang is a Postdoc at Tsinghua University.
Email: qwang_ecol@hotmail.com
Shuang Sun focuses on modeling and improving of land-atmosphere exchanges of water, energy and carbon. Her approaches include theoretical study, data analysis and numerical modeling with land surface model.
Email: shsun101@163.com
Ph.D students
Huiying Xu is intrigued by how vegetations will shift under global climate change. She currently works on the mechanism behind the variations of plant functional traits across time and space, and their predictions based on the theory of first principles. Her research involves the relationships between traits themselves and environment variables, and the prediction of optimal traits using models with the data from fieldwork and collections. She also tries to understand the controls of functional diversity along environmental gradient and propose a framework to it.
Email: xuhy19@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn
Ziqi Zhu is interested in analyzing the impact of climate factors on vegetation greenness by using remote sensing data. At present, he is trying to figure out the adaptability of vegetation to climate changes on the Tibetan Plateau. And he will also try to combine Pmodel, a universal productivity model (proposed by Wang et al.), with remote sensing methods and data. Ziqi Zhu is currently studying for a PhD at Tsinghua University.
Email: zq-zhu20@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn
Yanghang Ren aims at developing a next-generation land surface model (LSM) incorporating the Eco-Evolutionary Optimality. During her MRes in the Institute of Tibetan Plateau, CAS, she evaluated P model’s ability to simulate GPP in alpine ecosystem at regional and site scales and successfully revealed the impact of monsoon break on alpine ecosystem photosynthesis. She will focus on the theory of plant respiration acclimation and apply that theory to Noah-MP to understand how plant acclimation affects land-atmosphere interaction in her PhD research.
Email: ryh21@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn
Han Zhang is interested in the relationship between plant physiological traits and environmental factors. She works on the predictions of plant traits based on the theory of Eco-Evolutionary Optimality and then applying them to improve the land surface model (LSM). At present, she is working on the controls of stem respiration across time and space based on the least-cost theory. She joined Tsinghua University as a PhD student in September 2022.
Email: h-zhang22@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn; zhanghan_2000@126.com
Zeyu Feng is interested in carbon cycle processes and land surface model development. He is currently working on the regularity of vegetation functional traits responding to environmental changes. He joined Tsinghua University as a PhD student in September 2023.
Email: fzy23@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn
Lewei Jin is is interested in theoretical ecology and vegetation simulation. She is currently working on predicting the distribution of evergreen v.s. decidous species. She joined Tsinghua University as a PhD student in September 2023.
Email: jlw23@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn
External collaborators
Runxi Wang has a wide range of research interests in the ecology of insects and plants, with a major focus on understanding the community assembly process across different scales. In terms of ecosystem theory, he is particularly fascinated by how insects modify their environment and interact with plants. His goal is to develop functional-based theories and models that can explain ‘how the little things run the world’ (Wilson, 1987). Additionally, he enjoys hiking, photography, and designing. More information: http://runxiwang.weebly.com
Email: wanganrunxi@gmail.com
Previous Members
Shen Tan got his PhD degree in the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences (RADI, CAS), with a background of RS-based evapotranspiration (ET) estimation. During the pos-doc period, his interest will keep concentrating upon ET, but with a new strategy combining the plant eco-physiological processes. Additionally, he will also try to do some work in the combination of P-model with RS methods and data, which is also an important step in the model application in agriculture. He likes many kinds of sports, such as basketball and swimming.
Email: tanshen@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
Wenjie Zhang was committed to discover the ecological impact of climate change at a large scale by multiple remote sensing data during his PHD. It mainly includes the analysis of ecosystem response and resilience to climate forcing and extreme event. Currently, he is looking at the impact of changes in vegetation phenology on hydrological processes. Specifically, he aims at answering how the phenological changes to affect the evapotranspiration, river flow and spring flood caused by melting water. This research extends to couple the global flux measurements with satellite observations for comprehensive assessment purpose.
Email: wenjie.zhang.uts.zky@gmail.com
Shengchao Qiao joined LPICEA group in 2018 and successfully obtained his PhD degree in 2022. He dedicated his research efforts to extending the Eco-Evolutionary Optimality-based universal productivity model (Pmodel) proposed by Wang et al. for application in the agricultural field, as well as developed a more robust and simplistic model called PCmodel (Productivity model for crops). Additionally, he proposed a scheme for sowing dates simulations based on optimality concept, which revealed the law of wheat sowing adaptation to long-term climatic conditions. His research interests revolve around crop modeling, evaluating the consequences of climate change on crops, and designing adaptive approaches for managing the impacts of climate change. Currently, Shengchao Qiao is affiliated with Hainan University, where he focuses on refining the PCmodel and exploring the effects of extreme weather conditions on crop growth.
Email: qsc17@tsinghua.org.cn