Ph.D. - Environmental Engineering
University of Nevada Reno - 2017
Qian Zhao
Assistant Professor - Soil Biogeochemistry
Professional Preparation
M.S. - Environmental Engineering
Oklahoma State University - 2012
Oklahoma State University - 2012
B.S. - Environmental Engineering
Shenyang Architecture University, China - 2009
Shenyang Architecture University, China - 2009
Research Areas
Soil Carbon Biogeochemistry
As a significant concern of our sustainable Earth systems, global climate change can potentially alter the carbon (C) dynamics and processes in terrestrial ecosystems, given that terrestrial C is one of the largest C reservoirs on Earth. Soil C is an important source of atmospheric C. Understanding the fate and stability of soil C at molecular and landscape scales is important for evaluating and managing the global C dynamics in the framework of environmental sustainability. My research focus is mainly on the mechanistic understanding of C biogeochemical processes occurring at organic matter-mineral-microorganism interfaces in terrestrial ecosystems with environmental implications of C persistence in Earth systems across multiple scales. Organo-mineral interactions have been actively investigating as the major stabilizing mechanism for soil organic matter (OM). As a result, a substantial fraction of soil C was associated with Fe oxides and stabilized. Therefore, Fe oxides potentially play an important role in regulating the stability of soil C. The fate of Fe-bound C can be greatly influenced by the changing redox processes, such as seasonal changes in groundwater levels in terrestrial ecosystems. My current research studies mainly focus on the quantification and characterization of Fe-bound C in soils and the effects of redox reactions of Fe minerals on the stability of soil C under anaerobic-aerobic dynamic conditions. Anthropogenic activities, such as agricultural fertilization, increased environmental nitrogen (N) deposition globally. To further demonstrate C biogeochemical cycles in response to changing environments, I have been working on a project investigating how the addition of nutrients affects the C biogeochemical cycles. The coupled nutrient and C cycling is critical to understanding biogeochemical processes in terrestrial ecosystems. Not only OM-mineral interactions, it is also critical to investigate how microorganisms interact with soil minerals as microbial-derived C is known as a dominating source of soil OM pool. The accumulation of microbial necromass (dead microbial cells) and its ecological consequences in agricultural soils are critical to investigate by using the isotopic labeling approach.Publications
Interactive Effects of Salinity, Redox State, Soil Type, and Colloidal Size Fractionation on Greenhouse Gas Production in Coastal Wetland Soils 2025 - Other
Quantifying the Chemical Composition and Real-Time Mass Loading of Nanoplastic Particles in the Atmosphere Using Aerosol Mass Spectrometry 2024 - Journal Article
Effect of Adsorbed Carboxylates on the Dissolution of Boehmite Nanoplates in Highly Alkaline Solutions 2024 - Journal Article
Synergetic Effects of Soil Organic Matter Components During Interactions with Minerals 2024 - Journal Article
Novel principal component analysis tool based on python for analysis of complex spectra of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry 2024 - Journal Article
Investigating carbon stabilization in soils via mineral adsorption: What are we missing when we define mineral associated organic matter 2023 - Report
Grassland ecosystem type drives AM fungal diversity and functional guild distribution in North American grasslands 2023 - Journal Article
Awards
Outstanding Performance Award - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory [2023]
Appointments
Assistant Professor
The University of Texas at Dallas [2025–Present]
The University of Texas at Dallas [2025–Present]
Earth Scientist
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory [2021–2024]
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory [2021–2024]
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory [2017–2021]
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory [2017–2021]