About Me

I am an Assistant Professor jointly appointed in the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and the School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma. My research group, the Regional HydroClimate Analysis and Modeling (RHyCAM) Lab focuses on addressing the challenges posed by natural hazards—such as storms, floods, and wildfires—through a dual approach: advance our understanding and projection of these hazards using cutting-edge data and modeling tools, and develop strategies to mitigate their impacts through improved infrastructure design and operational practices. By integrating observational data, high-resolution physical earth system modeling, and data-driven modeling, my research constructs, projects, and analyzes natural hazards to inform resilient solutions. My research lab is dedicated to bridging the gap between scientific discovery and real-world applications, contributing to a more sustainable and disaster-resilient society.

I got my Ph.D. degree from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington. I was a student of the Sustainability, Satellites, Water, and Environment (SASWE) research group. My Ph.D. study focused on the applications of atmospheric and hydrologic sciences in addressing real-world problems. After my Ph.D., I moved to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and worked as a postdoc and Earth scientist during 2018-2024, working with Dr. Ruby Leung on various projects on regional environmental change and high-resolution regional climate modeling.

This site is now not updated as often as it used to be. For most updated information, please visit my research group website.

News (more)

[2025-01] I have official started my new job at the Univeristy of Oklahoma! Please visit my research group website for more information.

[2023-11] My leading paper, "Weather Systems Connecting Modes of Climate Variabilities to Regional Hydroclimate Extremes", is published on Geophysical Research Letters. With machine learning models, we are able to identify regional precipitation patterns that are modulated by ENSO and MJO, which is not possible with traditional approaches (e.g., EOF). Feel free to check it out!

[2023-11] My leading paper, "Antecedent Hydrometeorological Conditions of Wildfire Occurrence in the Western US in a Changing Climate", is published on Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. In this papers, we used simple machine learning clustering method to successfully improve the wildfire predictions. Feel free to check it out!

[2023-03] My co-authored paper, "Moisture Sources of Precipitation in the Great Lakes Region: Climatology and Recent Changes", is published on Geophysical Research Letters. Feel free to check it out!

[2023-01] My leading paper, "Sharpening of cold-season storms over the western United States", is published on Nature Climate Change! It shows some interesting change of preciptation in the western US, and feel free to check it out! [AP News], [SF Chronicle], [PNNL News Release]

[2023-01] My co-authored paper, "Potential weakening of the June 2012 North American derecho under future warming", is published on JGR-Atmospheres.

[2022-12] I will be presensting a poster at the upcoming AGU Fall Meeting on the Puget Sound hydroclimate predictibiliy: "Quantifying the Predictability of Coastal Hydroclimate Conditions from Large-scale Climate Drivers". Come for a quick chat online!

[2021-04] My leading paper, "Response of U.S. West Coast Mountain Snowpack to Local Sea Surface Temperature Perturbations: Insights from Numerical Modeling and Machine Learning" is published on Journal of Hydrometeorology. It examines how mountainous snowpack across the U.S. west coast are affected by near-shore ocean condition. Feel free to check it out! [DOE highlight] [PNNL highlight]

[2020-06] I will give a talk on the atmospheric rivers, extreme precipitation and water resources over the western U.S. at the California Extreme Precipitation Symposium at UC Davis, 06-30, 2020. Check out the recoded presentation here