About the Editors
Editors-in-Chief
Yanxu Zhang, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Tulane University
New Orleans, USA
Dr. Zhang's research interests lie at the intersection of Earth and environmental sciences, focusing on the biogeochemical cycling of global contaminants. He combines mechanistic insight and observational data to develop Earth System Models for different environmental compartments and their interfaces. His studies elucidate key environmental processes, establish comprehensive budgets, assess the impact of human activities on environmental quality, and project the influences of climate change in both historical and future contexts. Current projects target mercury (Hg), (micro)plastics, PFAS, antibiotics, radionuclides, and other legacy and emerging pollutants.
Ying Zhu, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Environmental Science and Engineering
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai, China
Dr. Zhu's research group aims to advance the understanding of emissions, environmental fate, exposure, and risks of emerging contaminants. They develop state-of-the-art modeling approaches for simulating long-range transport and multimedia migration of emerging contaminants, integrating machine learning techniques to address key scientific questions in these areas.
Associate Editors
Luisa Galgani, PhD
Research Scientist, Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry, and Pharmacy
University of Siena
Siena, Italy
Dr. Galgani specializes in assessing anthropogenic impacts on marine and freshwater ecosystems as well as leveraging citizen science to enhance data collection and public engagement. She brings strong skills in scientific communications, outreach, and multi-stakeholder collaboration on environmental and sustainability challenges. She has been serving as an External Expert for the European Commission's Mission, Restore our Ocean and Waters on aquatic pollution since 2022. She is also a Recipient of two Marie Skodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF 2015, GF 2019).
Seongjin Hong, PhD
Professor, Department of Oceanography and Ocean Environmental Sciences
Chungnam National University
Daejeon, Republic of Korea
Dr. Hong's research focuses on environmental chemistry and toxicology, with particular emphasis on the distribution, fate, and ecological impacts of legacy and emerging contaminants in aquatic environments, encompassing: (1) distribution, fate, and bioaccumulation of persistent toxic substances; (2) occurrence and dynamics of marine biotoxins and their causative microalgae; (3) source identification of contaminants using compound-specific stable isotope analysis; and (4) identification of key toxicants in complex mixtures through effect-directed analysis and non-target screening. He aims to advance our understanding of contaminant behavior across environmental compartments, inform management strategies, and support evidence-based pollution control.
Xindi Hu, DSc
Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
George Washington University
Washington, DC, USA
Dr. Hu's research aims to understand the relative contribution of chemical exposures in environmental media on population health outcomes and health disparities and generate evidence at a large scale. To achieve this, she employs a multidisciplinary approach encompassing exposure science, geospatial data science, and health informatics. Through collaborations established in academic and applied policy research settings, she develops machine learning techniques for modeling human exposure to drinking water contaminants (PFAS) through a place-based approach. She also leverages healthcare big data, including insurance enrollment, claims data, and EHR, to discern patterns in healthcare utilization and costs at the national scale in a variety of projects, including tracking community-level drug abuse and COVID-19 burden using wastewater-based epidemiology, causally assessing the impact of heatwaves on the vulnerable population, and utilizing machine learning techniques to predict the risk of long COVID.
Qingbin Yuan, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Environment
Nanjing University
Nanjing, China
Dr. Yuan’s research focuses on the detection, behavior, and risk control of biological contaminants in the environment. He is particularly interested in developing biosensors for the in-situ and real-time detection of waterborne pathogens. Additionally, Dr. Yuan investigates the behavior of biological contaminants using advanced methods such as machine learning to understand their interactions and spread in environmental systems. His work also explores innovative strategies to control the risks associated with these contaminants, including selective inactivation and degradation techniques based on advanced materials.
Yanyan Zhang, PhD
Assistant Professor, School of Engineering
Westlake University
Hangzhou, China
Dr. Zhang specializes in environmental chemistry and engineering, focusing on the degradation processes and environmental behavior of emerging contaminants. Using advanced mass spectrometry and quantum chemistry, she explores defluorination mechanisms, degradation pathways, and structure-activity relationships of fluorochemicals. Her research develops water treatment and remediation technologies while examining the occurrence and environmental fate of contaminants. Current targets include PFAS, fluoro-pharmaceuticals, and antibiotics.
Editorial Board Members
Hélène Angot, PhD, Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Grenoble, France
Johannes Bieser, PhD, Helmholtz Zentrum Hereon, Geesthacht, Germany
Benny Chefetz, PhD, Volcani Institute, Rishon LeZion, Israel
Wei Chen, PhD, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China
Hui Huang, PhD, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
Kevin Jones, PhD, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
Karen Kidd, PhD, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
Laurent Lebreton, MSc, The Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Lorenzo Antonio Picos Corrales, PhD, Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS), Sinaloa, Mexico
Amina Schartup, PhD, University of California San Diego, CA, USA
Jeroen Sonke, PhD, Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, Toulouse, France
Shu Tao, PhD, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
Kevin Thomas, DSc, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Zhenyu Tian, PhD, Northeastern University, MA, USA
Teng Wang, PhD, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
Fengchang Wu, PhD, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China
Pu Xia, PhD, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Li Xu, PhD, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, China
Eddy Zeng, PhD, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
Xing Zhou, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology, GA, USA
Garyfalia (Liana) Zoumpouli, PhD, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
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