Dr. ZHAO Yan  

Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences  

A11 Datun Road Beijing 100101 P.R. China 

Phone: +86 (10) 6488-9938 

FAX: +86 10) 6488-9938 

E-mail: zhaoyan@igsnrr.ac.cn 　

　  

Research Interests 

Paleoclimatology and paleoecology; late glacial and Holocene; pollen and macrofossil analysis of lake and peatland sediments.    

 

Professional Preparation 

B.Sc. in Geography, Hubei University (Wuhan, China), 1989 

M.Sc. in Ecology, Hubei University, 1995 

Ph.D. in Historical Physical Geography, Wuhan University, 1998 　　  

Post-Doctoral Fellow, 7/1998 - 3/2000, Faculty of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China (Paleoentology and paleoecology; Research Sponsor: Prof. Hongfu Yin) 

Post-Doctoral Fellow (Funded by Royal Society Royal Fellowship), 4/2000 - 5/2001, Environmental Change Research Centre (ECRC), University College London, London, UK. (Plant macrofossil analysis and vegetation history; Research Sponsor: Dr. Carl Sayer) 

Post-Doctoral Fellow (Funded by DAAD), 1/2002 - 8/2002, National Natural History Museum Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany (Pollen record and Late Holocene Environmental Change; Research Sponsor: Dr. Adam Hoelzer) 　

　  

Professional Appointments 

Professor, 2012-present, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 

Humboldt Fellowship Visiting Scientist, 2011-2013, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Research Unit Potsdam, Germany. 

Professor, 2008-2011, Research School of Arid Environment and Climatic Change, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China 

Associate Professor, 2003-2007, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China 　　  

Visiting Scientist, 12/2008-1/2009, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA. 

Visiting Scientist, 11/2007-12/2007, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Research Unit Potsdam, Germany  

Visiting Scientist, 1/2007-6/2007, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA. 

Visiting Scientist, 12/2005-12/2006, Environmental Change Research Centre (ECRC), University College London, London, UK.

 

Selected Publications 

1. *Zhao, Y., Tzedakis, P.C., Li, Q., Qin, F., Cui, Q.Y., Liang, C., Birks, H.J.B., Liu, Y.L., Zhang, Z.Y., Ge, J.Y., Zhao, H., Felde, V.A., Deng, C.L., Cai, M.T., Li, H., Ren, W.H., Wei, H.C., Yang, H.F., Zhang, J.W., Yu, Z.C., Guo, Z.T., 2020. Evolution of vegetation and climate variability on the Tibetan Plateau over the past 1.74 million years. Science Advances, 6, eaay6193. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aay6193.

2. *Zhao, Y., 2018. Vegetation and climate reconstructions on different time scales in China: a review of Chinese palynological research. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 27, 381-392.

3. *Zhao,Y., Liu, Y.L., Guo, Z.T., Fang, K.Y., Li, Q., Cao, X.Y., 2017. Abrupt vegetation shifts caused by gradual climate changes in central Asia during the Holocene. Science China Earth Sciences 60, 1317-1327.

4. *Zhao, Y., Herzshuh, U., Li, Q.，2015. Complex vegetation responses to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau: a paleoecological perspective. National Science Review 2, 400-402.

5. *Zhao, Y.,Yu, Z.C., Herzschuh, U., Yang, B., Zhao, H., Fang, K.Y., Li, H., Li, Q., 2014. Vegetation and climate change during Marine Isotope Stage 3 in China. Chinese Science Bulletin 59, 4444-4456.

6. *Zhao, Y., Tang, Y., Yu, Z.C., Li, H., Yang, B., Zhao, W.W., Li, F.R., Li, Q., 2014. Holocene peatland initiation, lateral expansion and carbon dynamics in the Zoige Basin of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. The Holocene 24, 1137-1145. 

7. *Zhao, Y., Yu, Z.C., Yu, T., Li, H., Yang, B., Li, F.R., Zhao, W.W., Sun, J.H., Chen, J.H., Li, Q., 2014. Peatland initiation and carbon accumulation in China over the last 50,000 years. Earth-Science Reviews 148, 139-145.

8. *Zhao, Y., Li, F.R., Hou, Y.T., Sun, J.H., Zhao, W.W., Tang, Y., Li, H., 2012. Surface pollen and its relationships with modern vegetation and climate on the Loess Plateau and surrounding deserts. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 181, 47-53. 

9. *Zhao, Y., Liu, H.Y., Li, F.R, Huang, X.Z., Sun, J.H., Zhao, W.W., Herzschuh, U., Tang, Y., 2012. Application and limitation of Artemisia/Chenopodiaceae pollen ratio in arid and semi-arid China. The Holocene 22, 1385-1392. 

10. *Zhao, Y., Yu, Z.C., 2012. Vegetation response to Holocene climate change in East Asian monsoon-margin region. Earth-Science Reviews 113, 1-10. 

11. *Zhao. Y., Yu, Z.C., Zhao, W.W., 2011. Holocene vegetation and climate histories in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau: controls by insolation-driven temperature or monsoon-derived precipitation changes? Quaternary Science Reviews 30, 1173-1184. 

12. *Zhao, Y., Chen, F.H., Zhou, A.F., Yu, Z.C., 2010. Vegetation history, climate change and human activities over the last 6200 years on the Liupan Mountains in the southwestern Loess Plateau in central China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 293, 197-205.

 13. *Zhao, Y., Yu, Z.C., Zhao, C., 2010. Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) declines at 9500 and 5300 cal yr BP caused by Holocene climatic shifts in northeastern North America. The Holocene 20, 877-886. 

14. * Zhao, Y., Sun, Q.F., 2010. Reliability of pollen concentration as the indicator of effective moisture in arid and semi-arid regions of China. Journal of Arid Environments 74, 423-427. 

15. *Zhao, Y., Yu, Z.C., Liu, X.J., Zhao, C., Chen, F.H., Zhang, K., 2010. Late Holocene Vegetation and Climate Oscillations in the Qaidam Basin of the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary Research 73, 59-69. 

16. *Zhao, Y, Yu, Z.C., Chen, F.H., Zhang, J.W., Yang, B., 2009. Vegetation response to Holocene climate change in monsoon-influenced region of China. Earth-Science Reviews 97, 242-256. 

17. *Zhao, Y., Xu, Q.H., Huang, X.Z., Guo, X.L., Tao, S.C., 2009. Difference of modern pollen assemblages from lake sediments and surface soils in arid and semi-arid China and their significance for pollen-based quantitative climate reconstruction. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 156, 519-524. 

18. *Zhao, Y, Herzschuh, U., 2009. Modern pollen representation of source vegetation in the Qaidam Basin and surrounding mountains, northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany.18, 245-260. 

19. *Zhao, Y., Yu, Z.C., Chen, F.H., 2009. Spatial and temporal patterns of Holocene vegetation and climate changes in arid and semi-arid China. Quaternary International 194, 6-18. 

20. *Zhao, Y., Yu, Z.C., Chen, F.H., Li, J.J., 2008. Holocene vegetation and climate change from a lake sediment record in the Tengger Sandy Desert, northwest China. Journal of Arid Environments 72, 2054-2064. 

21. *Zhao, Y., Yu, Z.C., Chen, F.H., Liu, X.J., Ito, E., 2008. Sensitive response of desert vegetation to moisture change based on a near-annual resolution pollen record from Gahai Lake in the Qaidam Basin, northwest China. Global and Planetary Change 62, 107-114. 

22. *Zhao, Y, Hoelzer, A., Yu, Z.C., 2007. Late Holocene natural and human-induced environmental change reconstructed from peat records in eastern central China. Radiocarbon 49, 789-798. 

23. *Zhao, Y., Yu, Z.C., Chen, F.H., Ito, E., Zhao, C., 2007. Holocene vegetation and climate history at Hurleg Lake in the Qaidam Basin, northwest China. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 145, 275-288. 

24. Zhao, Y., Sayer, D.C., Birks, H.H. Hughes, M., Peglar, S.M., 2006. Spatial representation of aquatic vegetation by macrofossil and pollen remains in a small and shallow lake. Journal of Paleolimnology 35, 335-350. 

 

Synergistic Activities 

Vice President (2011-2015), INQUA Human and Biosphere Commission 

Steering Group Member (2014-2017), PAGES Working Group “C-Peat” (Carbon in Peat on EArth through Time)  

Regional Coordinator (2008-2012), INTIMATE Working Group  (INTegrating Ice core, MArine and Terrestrial records), INQUA Palaeoclimate Commission 

Project Secretary (2006-2007), RACHAD Working Group (RApid climate CHanges in central Asia’s Drylands), INQUA Palaeoclimate Commission 

General Secretary (2008-2012), Subcommission of Arid Environments, Chinese Quaternary Research Association 

Associate Editor (2011-), Vegetation History and Archaeobotany  

Editorial Board (2012-), Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology  

Editorial Board (2014-), Global and Planetary Change

Editor (2014-), SCIENCE CHINE Earth Sciences 

 

Collaborators and Other Affiliations 

Collaborators: 

Zicheng Yu (Lehigh Univ., USA); Ulrike Herzschuh (Univ. of Potsdam, Germany); Emi Ito (Univ. of Minnesota, USA); Carl Sayer (Univ. College London, UK) 

Post-doctoral Advisors: 

Hongfu Yin (China University of Geosciences, Wuhan); Carl Sayer (University College London, London); Adam Hoelzer (National Natural History Museum, Karlsruhe, Germany) 

 

Postgraduate Students: 

M.Sc.: Jiajia Li, Xiuju Liu, Xiaoli Guo, Jinghui Sun, Wenwei Zhao, Furong Li, Yu Tang, and Huan Li 

PhD: Ke Zhang, Xiaohong Sun, Yaoliang Liu, Chen Liang, Weihe Ren, Hanfei Yang, Rongwei Geng, Yifang Cui, and Hongyi Qiu

Updated on 6 July, 2020