Gan Zhang

Gan Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Climate, Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, affiliated with the School of Earth, Society & Environment. His research focuses on climate modeling, prediction, and applications, particularly addressing climate risks involving physical phenomena (e.g., cyclones) and socioeconomic factors (e.g., energy transition). He emphasizes integrating geophysical fluid dynamics with machine learning and real-world applications.

Education: PhD (2018), M.S. (2012) in Atmospheric Sciences from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; B.S. (2011) in Marine Meteorology from Ocean University of China.

Research interests include climate variability, extratropical cyclones, tropical meteorology, and weather/climate risk. Recent work explores wind energy risks in midlatitudes, Rossby wave impacts on cyclones, and historical records of tropical cyclones using Chinese documents. His group fosters interdisciplinary approaches, encouraging exploration in data science, exo-climate, and economics.

Notable achievements include an Editor’s Award from the American Meteorological Society (2025) and collaborations with institutions like Princeton University and NCAR. He advises graduate students Mingfei Ren, Yudi Mao, and Megha Rao. His work bridges climate science with societal impacts, such as hurricane labor market effects and energy systems.

Key research tools include climate models, satellite data, and machine learning. Recent presentations include sessions at the American Meteorological Society annual meeting (2025) and workshops on extreme heat and cloud feedbacks.