Members

Dr. Ding He
Assistant Professor, PI CV

I got my PhD degree (majored in Marine Organic Geochemistry; supervised by Professor Rudolf Jaffé and co-supervised by Professor Bernd R.T. Simoneit) from Florida International University in 2014. I worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Department of Marine Science (supervised by Professor Patricia Medeiros) from University of Georgia from 2014 to 2016. I worked as a visiting researcher at Tongji University in 2016, and a Hundred Talent Professor at Zhejiang University from 2016 and join in HKUST in 2021. I have established a DREAM group at HKUST.

Email: dinghe@ust.hk

Dr. Ruanhong Cai
Postdoc (2023-now)

Ruanhong obtained his Ph.D. degree from Xiamen University. His research focuses on the microbially mediated cycling of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the ocean and relevant environmental and climate effects.

Email: cairuanhong@ust.hk, crh1987@163.com

Dr. Yuanbi Yi
Postdoc (2022-now) CV

Yuanbi obtained his Ph.D. degree from Tianjin University, and he aims to use multiple methods, such as isotopic analysis and high-resolution mass spectrometry, to explore the transport and transformation of organic matter in aquatic systems and its impact on climate change.

Email: yuanbiyi@ust.hk

Dr. Zhe-Xuan Zhang
Postdoc (2024-now)

Zhe-Xuan holds a Ph.D. degree from Sorbonne Université. His research focuses on the sources and sinks of organic matter in aquatic systems. His approaches include various techniques such as FT-ICR MS, excitation–emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy, and lipid biomarkers. He likes movies and photography.

Email: zhexuanzhang@ust.hk

Dr. Wenzhao Liang
Postdoc (2022-now) CV

Dr. Liang holds a PhD degree in Hydrogeology and Biogeochemistry from The University of Hong Kong. His research primarily revolves around unraveling the intricate interplay among physical, biogeochemical, and environmental processes in coastal environments. Currently, his focus lies in the carbon cycle, with a particular interest in exploring the connection between the characteristics of dissolved organic matter and greenhouse gas dynamics. Additionally, Liang is actively engaged in utilizing machine learning techniques to evaluate the impact of environmental drivers on hydro-bio-geo-chemical processes.

Email: liangwz@ust.hk

Dr. Zhaoliang Chen
Postdoc (2022-now)

Zhaoliang got his Ph.D. in Biology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2022. His current research mainly focuses on understanding carbon cycling in coastal wetlands and estuaries by using FT-ICR MS and 3D-EEMs fluorescence spectrometer. He is also interested in investigating the biogeochemical impact of microplastics on coastal carbon cycling.

Email: chenzl@ust.hk

Dr. Yanjun Liu
Postdoc (2024-now)

Yanjun obtained his Ph.D. degree in Environmental Science and Engineering from University of Science and Technology of China in 2024. His research mainly focuses on unraveling the ecological effect and environmental risk of plastic products and their derivatives (e.g., microplastics, nanoplastics, and plastic additives) in aquatic environments. Additionally, he is currently engaged in investigating the biogeochemical impact of exogenous carbon material (e.g., microplastics, biochar, and biomass) on organic carbon cycling in coastal environments by using FT-ICR MS and 3D-EEMs fluorescence spectrometer. He likes badminton and running.

Email: lyjyyy@mail.ustc.edu.cn

Prof. Tongcun Liu
Visiting Scholar Homepage
School of Mathematics and Computer Science, Zhejiang A&F University

Prof. Liu is interested in cutting-edge algorithms for big data and artificial intelligence. His researches focus on recommender system and user behavior modeling, spatiotemporal big data analysis and modeling, bioinformatics, ocean big data, natural language processing, and computer vision.

Email: tongcun.liu@gmail.com, liutongcun@e-byte.com

Prof. Penghui Li
Visiting Scholar Homepage
School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University

Prof. Li is interested in the characterization of dissolved organic matter in the natural environment, the biogeochemical cycle of dissolved organic matter, and the relationship between dissolved organic matter and environmental factors.

Email: liph8@mail.sysu.edu.cn

Associate Prof. Fang Yang
Visiting Scholar Homepage
College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University (NWAFU)

Associate Prof. Yang is interested in understanding the environmental pollution chemistry and remediation, and mechanisms and effects of organic matters on environmental behaviors of trace organic pollutants.

Email: yangfang@ust.hk

Zhenwei Yan
PhD student (2022-now)

Zhenwei obtained his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Ocean University of China. His research is centered around the use of stable nitrogen isotopes and high-resolution mass spectrometry to investigate the fate of dissolved organic nitrogen in marine environments. The objective of his study is to gain a deeper understanding of the role of dissolved organic nitrogen in marine nitrogen and carbon cycles, as well as its implications for global change.

Email: zyanbf@connect.ust.hk

Chen Zhao (HKPFS)
PhD student (2022-now) CV

Chen is interested in the following two aspects: 1) Elucidating the carbon cycling in estuarine systems and its impacts on climate change; 2) Developing new data science toolbox addressing molecular geochemistry.

Email: czhaobk@connect.ust.hk

Yu Pang
PhD student (2023-now)

Yu obtained her Master’s degrees from Zhejiang University. Her interests include DOM dynamics from rivers to oceans.

Email: ypangag@connect.ust.hk

Huiying Ma
PhD student (2022-now, Co-supervised with Prof. Si-Liang Li from Tianjin University)

Huiying is studying at the School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University. Her interest focused on the phototransformations of environmentally pertinent organic compounds, with a specific emphasis on dissolved organic sulfur (DOS) in estuarine coastal zones. Through photodegradation experiments, she tries to reveal the biogeochemical fate of DOS from different sources in estuarine coastal zones, and attempts to provide direct evidence for the photochemical degradation efficiency, products and mechanisms of DOS at the molecular scale.

Email: huiying_ma@tju.edu.cn

Huijie Hu
PhD student(2024-now, Co-supervised with Prof. De-Lu Pan from Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou))

Hu obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Marine Science from Ocean University of China. She is interested in Numerical simulation,Remote sensing, Marine environment and Physical Oceanography.

Email: peanutwho@163.com

Mandy, Hoi Yan Kwok
MPhil Student (2024-now)

Mandy holds a bachelor's degree in Ocean Science and Technology from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and is currently pursuing an MPhil program in Marine Environmental Science. She is particularly interested in marine toxicology and the interactions between human activities and dissolved organic matter.

Email: hykwokal@connect.ust.hk

Runze Xue
RA (2023-now)

Run-Ze is a research assistant in Prof. HE's lab, a Master of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (2022-now) in reading, and his research interest focuses on Deep-sea mining simulation, and heavy metals.

Email: walkerxue@ust.hk

Piao Yao
RA (2023-now)

Yao Piao is a research assistant in Prof. HE's lab. He obtained a Master's degree from Nanjing University, and his research focuses on the microscopic interaction between clay minerals and organic matter.

Email: ocesyaopiao@ust.hk

Ming Ye
RA (2023-now)

Her interest focuses on utilizing a three-dimensional fluorescence spectrometer to investigate the biogeochemical cycling of dissolved organic matter and its relationship with environmental factors.

Email: yura@ust.hk

Yinyi Liu
Visiting Undergraduate Student(2024)

Yinyi is an Undergraduate Student currently studying Artificial Intelligence at South China Normal University and University Of Aberdeen. She uses lots of data-driven techniques, including Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Data Mining for the analysis of molecular data.

Email: yliunx@connect.ust.hk

Neal Xiangyu Ding
Visiting Undergraduate Student(2024)

Neal is an Undergraduate Student currently studying environmental biology and applied ecology at Cornell University and is interested in environmental policies and governance as well.

Email: nxding@connect.ust.hk

LEUNG Wai Hang
Student Helper

LEUNG Wai Hang is majoring in Ocean Science and Technology with an extended major in AI. She is interested in exploring the application of AI tools in oceanographic research.

Prof. Bin Zhou
Visiting Scholar Homepage
School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University

Prof. Zhou is interested in elemental carbon records and fire and vegetation evolution history, biomarkers and paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and paleoclimate and environmental changes at different time scales in the East Asian monsoon region since the late Cenozoic.

Email: zhoubinok@163.com

Dr. Yunchao Wu
Visiting Scholar Homepage
South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Dr. Haowen Zheng
Visiting Scholar Homepage
College of Oceanography and Environmental Science, Xiamen University