About Me

Welcome! This is Yan, currently working as a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Prior to HKUST, I worked as postdoc at College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CESE), Peking University from 2022 to 2025. I received my Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Peking University in 2022, where I worked under the supervision of Prof. Qi Chen. Prior to my Ph.D., I completed my B.Sc. in Environmental Chemistry from Nanjing University in 2016.

I am specializing in atmospheric chemistry, with a particular focus on the formation mechanisms, molecular composition, and environmental impacts of organic aerosols (OA). My research integrates field observations and laboratory experiments to understand how volatile organic compounds (VOCs) oxidize in the atmosphere and form OA in different environments under a changing climate.

I work extensively with advanced mass spectrometry techniques, including aerosol mass spectrometers (LTOF-AMS, Soot-particle AMS, TOF-ACSM, Q-ACSM) and chemical ionization mass spectrometers (Iodide-CIMS with FIGAERO, Nitrate-CIMS, PTR-QiTOF). I have participated in more than 15 field campaigns across urban, rural, and mountainous regions, with particular interests in fog and cloud processing of organic aerosols. I am also extending my research into multiphase chemistry in coastal environments and marine-continental interactions.

To be more specific, my recent work examines (1) OA formation under extreme-heat conditions, (2) refined source apportionment of OA with multi-instrument datasets, (3) multiphase Chemistry of SOA in urban and mountain areas including processes in aerosols and clouds, (4) long-term trends of urban OA sources, (5) coupling ambient data and machine learning to explore driving factors of SOA formation.