About

Dr. Renyi Zhang is the Harold J. Haynes Chair in Geosciences and a University Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University. His scientific endeavors have advanced the understanding of four pressing global issues: air pollution, climate change, stratospheric ozone layer depletion, and the COVID-19 pandemic. His investigations have provided critical insights into the formation mechanisms and impacts of fine aerosols or particulate matter, including explaining the chemistry behind the historic 1952 London Fog and severe hazes in Asia. His research on aerosols and their radiative forcing has significant implications for climate studies and the assessment of black carbon's role in global warming. Zhang's work has transformed the understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions, their effects on climate, and regional air pollution's global impacts, which are essential for addressing climate change and weather extremes. Additionally, his research has shed light on adverse health effects related to ultrafine particles and provided pivotal evidence on airborne COVID-19 transmission, impacting public health policies. His earlier work on stratospheric chemistry contributed to understanding the mechanisms behind the Antarctic ozone hole. Dr. Zhang has played a leading role in establishing research centers and interdisciplinary programs focused on atmospheric chemistry and environmental impacts, mentoring numerous early career scientists and graduate students who have achieved significant academic and professional success. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Meteorological Society, and American Geophysical Union, and has received numerous awards including the Humboldt Research Award in 2023.

Research topics

• Geology
• Chemistry
• Materials science
• Physics
• Computer Science
• Meteorology
• Environmental science
• Environmental chemistry
• Atmospheric sciences
• Chemical engineering
• Climatology
• Organic chemistry
• Geography
• Nanotechnology
• Telecommunications
• Engineering
• Medicine
• Composite material
• Business
• Environmental health
• Chemical physics

Selected publications

• Detecting supramolecular organic nanoparticles during heat wave

  Science · 2026-02-12

  article1st authorCorresponding

  New particle formation (NPF) represents a major source of tropospheric fine aerosols. A common viewpoint is that NPF hinges thermodynamically on the volatility of condensing species and is unfavorable at high temperatures. From an intensive field campaign, we observed frequent NPF events during a heat wave. Size-resolved chemical composition of nanoparticles down to 3 nanometers was first measured, unraveling a dominant presence of carboxylic acids. Our work uncovers a spontaneous mechanism to produce supramolecular nanoparticles through self-assembly of organic acids. This discovery explains not only the unexpected NPF at high temperatures but also its ubiquitous occurrence under diverse atmospheric conditions. As global warming leads to more frequent and intense heat waves, our findings open avenues for assessing the impacts of aerosols on cloud formation, public health, and climate.

  PublisherDOI

• Changed plant community composition promotes soil carbon sequestration under long-term silicon and nitrogen addition in an alpine meadow

  Research Square · 2026-02-12

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• [Study on the association between heatwaves and fall-related mortality risk in seven provinces of China].

  PubMed · 2025-04-10

  article

  Heatwave increases the risk of fall-related mortality, and the intensity of heatwaves modify this risk. Women are vulnerable populations.

  PublisherDOI

• Thank You to Our 2024 Peer Reviewers

  Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists · 2025-03-23

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract We are very grateful for the reviews done in 2024 to support the published articles of Perspectives of Earth and Space Sciences. This year we had 40 reviews. As a relatively young journal, Perspectives is still defining its role withing AGU. Perspectives has added several new article formats in order to help support intra‐AGU communication. These new formats included Commentaries, Opinions, News Items, and Memorials, which means additional challenges for reviewers, as the review criteria for these new formats vary from each other. This year also saw an increase in the diversity of styles and authorships of Perspectives Articles, which are the primary format of the journal, but the bulk of these Articles still took a large‐scale big‐picture view of a particular scientific perspective, across the full range of Earth and space sciences. Once again this year, we are very grateful for the wisdom and flexibility shown by our reviewers, and the entire editorial board of Perspectives would like to express our deep appreciation for all the work they have done. Thank you!

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Boards' green background and corporate ESG

  International Review of Financial Analysis · 2025-06-04 · 12 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• [Analysis of non-communicable disease prevention and control policy implementation in China from 2014 to 2021].

  PubMed · 2025-03-06

  article

  6.7, 8.3, 8.6, 8.6). From 2014 to 2021, the total score increased by 1.0 point, and the implementation rate improved by 8.9%. From 2014 to 2016, China's total policy implementation score rose from 8.5 to 10.5, primarily driven by improvements in tobacco tax increases and unhealthy diet reduction measures (salt reduction, restrictions on high-fat foods, and regulation of breast-milk substitute sales). However, this progress was partially offset by a decline in scores for physical activity campaigns. From 2016 to 2019, the total score decreased to 9.5, largely due to lower scores in harmful use of alcohol reduction measures (alcohol taxation and advertising bans). From 2019 to 2021, the total score remained stable, with increases in marketing to children restrictions balanced by declines in scores for drug therapy/counselling for cardiovascular diseases. In 2021, China's total policy implementation score (9.5) exceeded the global average (8.6) but fell below the G20 average (11.2). Significant gaps remained compared to top-performing G20 countries such as Turkey (16.5), particularly in tobacco control and restrictions on harmful alcohol use. In conclusion, from 2014 to 2021, China's total policy implementation score for NCDs prevention and control consistently exceeded the global average, demonstrating an upward trend, and various NCDs prevention and control policies have been continuously improved.

  PublisherDOI

• Constraining Gas Phase Yields and Reactive Uptake Coefficients of Oxidation Products from the Hydroxyl Radical-Isoprene Reaction onto Acidic Particles by Vocus Ammonia-Adduct Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry (Vocus NH₄⁺ CIMS)

  ACS ES&T Air · 2025-03-06 · 2 citations

  articleCorresponding

  Isoprene, the most abundant nonmethane volatile organic compound in the atmosphere, undergoes photochemical reactions with hydroxyl radical (•OH), a major sink for isoprene, leading to the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Using a Vocus Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer with ammonium-adduct ions (Vocus NH4+ CIMS), this study used the positive ion mode to quantify the yields and time-dependent reactive uptake of oxidized volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) produced from •OH-initiated oxidation of isoprene under dry conditions. Molar gas-phase yields of key oxidation products were constrained using sensitivities derived from a voltage scan of the front and back end of the Vocus ion–molecule reactor region. Carefully designed chamber experiments measured uptake coefficients (γ) for key isoprene-derived oxidation products onto acidic sulfate particles. The γ values for both C5H10O3 isomers (IEPOX/ISOPOOH) and C5H8O4, another epoxy species from isoprene photo-oxidation, rapidly decreased as the SOA coating thickness increased, demonstrating a self-limiting effect. Despite ISOPOOH/IEPOX contributing around 80% to total reactive uptake, other oxidation products from isoprene photooxidation were estimated to contribute 20% of the total SOA formation. These findings highlight the importance for future models to consider the self-limiting effects of ISOPOOH/IEPOX and SOA formation through non-IEPOX pathways.

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary material to "Technical note: A theoretical study on the mechanism of citric acid-driven multi-component nucleation of sulfuric acid-base-water clusters "

  2024-02-21 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Table S1.The number and length of hydrogen bonds

  PublisherDOI

• [Epidemiological characteristic of viral encephalitis in children and adolescents in Henan Province, 2012-2023].

  PubMed · 2024-06-10

  article

  From 2012 to 2023, more cases of viral encephalitis occurred in boys in Henan. Children and adolescents aged 7-13 years were the main affected group. The prevention of enteroviruses infection, especially Coxsackie virus, needs to be strengthened. Special attention should be paid to the prevention of cerebral hemisphere damage after viral encephalitis diagnosis.

  PublisherDOI

• Thank You to Our 2023 Peer Reviewers

  Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists · 2024-05-10

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract We are very grateful for the reviews done in 2023 to support the published articles of Perspectives of Earth and Space Sciences. Last year we had 56 reviews and this year it was 49. As a relatively young journal, Perspectives is still defining its role withing AGU. This year Perspectives added several new article formats in order to help support intra‐AGU communication. These new formats included Commentaries, Opinions, News Items, and Memorials, which means additional challenges for reviewers, as the review criteria for these new formats vary from each other. This year also saw an increase in the diversity of styles and authorships of Perspectives Articles, which are the primary format of the journal, but the bulk of these Articles still took a large‐scale big‐picture view of a particular scientific perspective, across the full range of Earth and space sciences. Once again this year, we are very grateful for the wisdom and flexibility shown by our reviewers, and the entire editorial board of Perspectives would like to express our deep appreciation for all the work they have done. Thank you!

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Generation, Characterization, and Atmospheric Aging of Soot Particles from Diesel Combustion

  NSF · $332k · 2009–2013

• Collaborative Research: Demonstration of a New Framework for Studying Aerosol Indirect Effects

  NSF · $177k · 2004–2009

• Aerosol Growth and Chemical Compositions from Heterogeneous Processing of Organic Compounds

  NSF · $597k · 2009–2013

Frequent coauthors

• Min Hu

  State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control

  140 shared

• Song Guo

  110 shared

• Jianfei Peng

  Nankai University

  103 shared

• Yuan Wang

  Stanford University

  79 shared

• Jun Zheng

  72 shared

• Yuemeng Ji

  Guangdong University of Technology

  60 shared

• Misti Levy Zamora

  University of Connecticut

  57 shared

• Zhijun Wu

  State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control

  56 shared

Labs

• Renyi Zhang's GroupPI

Education

• Ph.D., Department of Chemistry and Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1993

• M.S., Physics

  University of Nevada Reno

  1989

• B.S., Atmopsheric Physics

  Nanjing Institute of Meteorology

  1983

Awards & honors

• Humboldt Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation,…
• Outstanding Career Award, College of Arts & Sciences, TAMU,…
• Sigma Xi Outstanding Distinguished Scientist Award, TAMU, 20…
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science,…
• Honor Award for Scientific Excellence, Division of Environme…