Dr. Zheng is a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Environment and Sustainability at HKUST. Her research focuses on atmospheric chemistry, with expertise in the sources, transformations, and multiphase formation mechanisms of organic aerosols. She integrates field observations and laboratory simulations with state-of-the-art online mass spectrometry, including AMS, ACSM, and CIMS, to advance the characterization of atmospheric composition and its responses to a changing climate. She has participated in more than 15 field campaigns across urban, rural, and mountainous regions, with particular interests in fog and cloud processing of organic aerosols. Prior to joining HKUST, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Peking University. She has published over 25 peer-reviewed articles (h-index 18, >1000 citations) and is extending her research into multiphase chemistry in coastal environments and marine-continental interactions.

Research Themes under ENVR

•  Air and Health

Research Areas

• Atmospheric Chemistry
• Aerosol Chemistry
• Atmospheric Science

Research Interests

• Sources and formation pathways of organic aerosol
• Heterogeneous and aqueous chemistry
• Cloud-Aerosol Interactions
• Atmospheric aerosols under climate change

Research Projects

• Experimental study on how extreme heat weather condition affects the aqueous and heterogeneous formation of secondary organic aerosol (PI, NSFC, Young Scientists Fund, 2026-2028)

Publications

Representative Publications

• Zheng, Y., Miao, R., Zhang, Q., Li, Y., Cheng, X., Liao, K., Koenig, T. K., Ge, Y., Tang, L., Shang, D., Hu, M., Chen, S., and Chen, Q.: Secondary formation of submicron and supermicron organic and inorganic aerosols in a highly polluted urban area, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 128, e2022JD037865, 10.1029/2022JD037865, 2023.
• Zheng, Y., Chen, Q., Cheng, X., Mohr, C., Cai, J., Huang, W., Shrivastava, M., Ye, P. L., Fu, P. Q., Shi, X. D., Ge, Y. L., Liao, K. R., Miao, R. Q., Qiu, X. H., Koenig, T. K., and Chen, S. Y.: Precursors and pathways leading to enhanced secondary organic aerosol formation during severe haze episodes, Environ. Sci. Technol., 55, 15680-15693, 10.1021/acs.est.1c04255, 2021.
• Zheng, Y., Cheng, X., Liao, K., Li, Y., Li, Y. J., Huang, R. J., Hu, W., Liu, Y., Zhu, T., Chen, S., Zeng, L., Worsnop, D. R., and Chen, Q.: Characterization of anthropogenic organic aerosols by TOF-ACSM with the new capture vaporizer, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2457-2472, 10.5194/amt-13-2457-2020, 2020.
• Cheng, X., Li, Y. J., Zheng, Y., Liao, K., Koenig, T. K., Ge, Y., Zhu, T., Ye, C., Qiu, X., and Chen, Q.: Oxygenated organic molecules produced by low-NOx photooxidation of aromatic compounds: contributions to secondary organic aerosol and steric hindrance, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2099-2112, 10.5194/acp-24-2099-2024, 2024.
• Cai, J., Daellenbach, K. R., Wu, C., Zheng, Y., Zheng, F., Du, W., Haslett, S. L., Chen, Q., Kulmala, M., and Mohr, C.: Characterization of offline analysis of particulate matter with FIGAERO-CIMS, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1147-1165, 10.5194/amt-16-1147-2023, 2023.
• Khuzestani, R. B., Liao, K., Liu, Y., Miao, R., Zheng, Y., Cheng, X., Jia, T., Li, X., Chen, S., Huang, G., and Chen, Q.: Spatial variability of air pollutants in a megacity characterized by mobile measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7389-7404, 10.5194/acp-22-7389-2022, 2022.
• Cheng, X., Chen, Q., Li, Y. J., Zheng, Y., Liao, K., and Huang, G.: Highly oxygenated organic molecules produced by the oxidation of benzene and toluene in a wide range of OH exposure and NOx conditions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12005–12019, 10.5194/acp-21-12005-2021, 2021.