NEWS
▪ Feb 10, 2025: Atmosphere Special Issue "Fire Weather and Drought: Recent Developments and Future Perspectives" is now open for submission.
▪ Jan 10, 2025: Start my new job at HKBU.
▪ Nov 25, 2024: Our work Zhuang et al. 2024 (Sci. Adv.) is selected as "Featured Image" by NOAA Climate.gov. (Link)
▪ Nov 6, 2024: Check out our new paper, Zhuang et al. 2024, published in Science Advances. Our study reveals that in the western US, high evaporative demand—primarily driven by anthropogenic warming—has overtaken precipitation deficits as the leading contributor to drought severity and coverage.
▪ Oct 2, 2024: Congratulations to my student Annie Rosen, co-mentored by myself, Prof. Rong Fu at UCLA, and Dr. Longtao Wu at JPL, for winning the Best JSIP Presentation Award at the UCLA JIFRESSE Summer Internship Program (JSIP). (Link)
▪ Mar 28, 2024: Check out our new paper, Wang et al. 2024 (as corresponding author), published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. It highlights the role of lower-tropospheric humidity in land-atmosphere coupling under dry soil conditions in the US Southern Great Plains.
▪ March 14, 2024: Invited talk at UCLA AOS 271 Seminar: Atmospheric Dynamics. "Impacts of Atmospheric Circulation and Anthropogenic Warming on Drought and Wildfire Risk in the Western US". (Recording)
▪ Jan/Feb, 2024: Zhuang et al. 2021 (PNAS) received the "ESI Highly Cited Paper" rating.
▪ Feb 06, 2024: Check out my new paper, Zhuang & Fu 2024, published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. It proposes a "Self-Organizing Map - Analogue" approach to quantify circulation influence on precipitation anomalies and investigates the role of PDO in precipitation changes in the US Southwest and Great Plains.
▪ Feb 06, 2024: Heartfelt congratulations to my postdoc advisor, Prof. Rong Fu, on the distinguished honor of being elected as a new member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). (UCLA News)
▪ June 20, 2023: Co-authored paper Turco et al. 2023 (PNAS) is highlighted in "In This Issue" of PNAS, Vol. 120, No. 25.
▪ June 14, 2023: Interviewed by LA Time: "Wildfire burn areas are getting bigger due to climate change"
▪ May 19, 2023: Received UCLA JIFRESSE Outstanding Leadership/Service Award, for service as a member of the 2022 JIFRESSE Summer Internship Program (JSIP) Organization Committee.
▪ May 9, 2023: Collaborated research published in PNAS: Turco et al. 2023 - Anthropogenic climate change impacts exacerbate summer forest fires in California
▪ Feb 2, 2023: Received the Richard P. & Linda S. Turco Exceptional Research Publication Award at UCLA AOS Award Dinner.
▪ Dec 16, 2022: Oral presentation at the 2022 AGU Fall Meeting, Session GC52C - Drought: Mechanisms and Impacts in the Past, Present, and Future II Oral.
▪ Sep 15, 2022: Invited to serve on the UCLA JIFRESSE Summer Internship Program (JSIP) Committee.
▪ Apr 22, 2022: Invited talk at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "Climate Change-Induced Increase in Fire Weather Risk Over the Western US and Beyond".
▪ Apr 12, 2022: Website created (www.zhuangyz.org).
▪ Jan 19, 2022: Interviewed by NOAA Climate.gov on the climate context of 2021 Colorado’s Marshall Fire.
▪ Dec 19, 2021: Zhuang et al. 2021 (PNAS) was listed as University of California’s 10 Best Research Stories of 2021.
▪ Dec 16, 2021: Zhuang et al. 2021 (PNAS) was listed as UCLA’s Top News Stories of 2021.
▪ Dec 16, 2021: Oral presentation at the 2021 AGU Fall Meeting, Session A43F - The Past and Future of Fire: Paleo Perspectives, Historical Understanding, and Future Projections I Oral.
▪ Dec 14, 2021: Oral presentation at the 2021 AGU Fall Meeting, Session GC23A - Drought: Mechanisms and Impacts in the Past, Present, and Future III Oral.
▪ Nov 19, 2021: Zhuang et al. 2021 (PNAS) was referenced by Congressman Casten from Illinois at the House Science Committee hearing to support his amendment for a study from the NASEM on the interaction between climate change and wildfires.
▪ Nov 13, 2021: Interviewed by Daily Bruin on climate change and increased fire weather.
▪ Nov 10, 2021: Check out this commentary article Diffenbaugh et al. 2021 (PNAS) on our recent paper Zhuang et al. 2021 (PNAS).
▪ Nov 1, 2021: Check out my new paper, Zhuang et al. 2021, published in PNAS. It quantifies the impact of climate change on the increasing fire weather risk in the western US, represented by Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD).