Winners of the 2024 Young Talent Award

Graphical abstract

Dr. Yifeng Zhang, Professor^†

1) Dr. Yifeng Zhang was an associate professor when he was nominated and has been promoted to be a professor before this announcement is released.

, Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Dr. Yifeng Zhang is currently working as a professor at the Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Having obtained his Ph.D. from DTU in 2012, he has dedicated over 12 years to researching advanced electrochemistry in environmental and resource engineering. His research has consistently driven innovation in various domains, including wastewater treatment, resource recovery, advanced electrocatalysis and catalysis materials, environmental sensors, and sustainable carbon capture and utilization. These contributions have been recognized through over 198 scientific publications (more than 7,500 citations and h-index of 48 according to google scholar), 3 patents, and media communications, underscoring their impact and potential for future development. Notably, he has successfully secured about 60 million DKK in international and national research funding, including prestigious grants such as the Carlsberg Foundation Distinguished Fellowship. His accomplishments have been recognized through several awards, notably the James J. Morgan Environmental Science & Technology Early Career Award (Honorable Mentions) by the American Chemical Society and Winer of Food & Bio Cluster Denmark’s Idea Competition 2024. Additionally, he has been acknowledged as one of the World’s Top 2% Scientists.

Leveraging 3D printing in microbial electrochemistry research: current progress and future opportunities. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 2025, 19(1): 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-025-1921-y

Dr. Bo Zheng, Associate Professor, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School

Dr. Bo Zheng is an associate professor at Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School. He received B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Tsinghua University in Environmental Engineering. Then he completed a four-year postdoctoral training at the Laboratory for Sciences of Climate and Environment in France before joining Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School as an Assistant Professor in 2021. He focuses on the atmospheric carbon cycle and has developed a variety of techniques to analyze the sources and sinks of atmospheric constituents (e.g., greenhouse gases and air pollutants) based on satellite remote sensing. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles, which have received over 27,000 times citations with an h-index of 66 (Google scholar).

Monitoring fossil fuel CO₂ emissions from co-emitted NO₂ observed from space: progress, challenges, and future perspectives. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 2025, 19(1): 2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-025-1922-x

Dr. Tiezheng Tong, Associate Professor, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University

Dr. Tiezheng Tong is currently a tenured associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment (SSEBE) at Arizona State University (ASU). Before joining ASU, he was a tenured Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University (CSU). He completed a postdoc position in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Yale University and received his Ph.D. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University. Prior to his Ph.D. study, he graduated from Beijing Normal University (with the highest honor) and Tsinghua University with B.S. and M.S. degrees, respectively, both of which are in Environmental Engineering. He has published nearly 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, which have been cited by ~6,000 times globally with an h-index of 37. He is the recipient of many academic and professional awards, including the Super Reviewer Award from Environmental Science & Technology (2024), the James J. Morgan Early Career Award from American Chemical Society (honorable mention, 2024), the George T. Abell Outstanding Early-Career Faculty Award and Faculty Award for Excellence in Research from CSU (2023), the CAPEES/UCEEF Early Career Award from Chinese-American Professors in Environmental Engineering and Science (2023), the CAREER Award from National Science Foundation (2022), the 40 under 40 Award from American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (2022), ACS ES&T Engineering Best Paper Award (2022), the Young Membrane Scientist Award from North American Membrane Society (2020), a student award from Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization (2013), and Environmental Chemistry Graduate Student Award from American Chemistry Society (2012). He is currently an editorial board member of Journal of Membrane Science and the President-Elect of Chinese-American Professors in Environmental Engineering and Science. His current research interests include (1) achieving energy-efficient treatment of hypersaline brines for circular water economy, (2) elucidating fundamental phenomena at the water-membrane interface, and (3) applying data-driven approaches to promote water sustainability.

A tale of two minerals: contrasting behaviors and mitigation strategies of gypsum scaling and silica scaling in membrane desalination. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 2025, 19(1): 3. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-025-1923-9

Dr. Gengyuan Liu, Professor, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University

Dr. Gengyuan Liu is a professor in the School of Environment at Beijing Normal University. He received a B.S. from Tsinghua University (in Environmental Science and Technology) and a Ph.D. from Beijing Normal University (in Environmental Science). He studied further in Department of Environmental Science at Parthenope University in Napoli and Center for Environmental Policy in University of Florida as the Visiting Scholar. He is the Center Director of Advances in Cleaner Production Network, Regional Center: Asia, Africa and Oceania, and Secretary-in-Chief for China Chapter of International Society for Advancement Energy Research. He serves as editorial board member of Journal of Cleaner Production and Frontiers in Sustainable Cities. He specializes in urban metabolism and ecological management. He has been leading several international consortium projects and research fellowships funded by National Natural Foundation of China, Beijing Commission of Science and Technology, and Ministry of Science and Technology of China. He has published over 150 in prestigious SCI-indexed journals, including 100+ articles published in Q1 journals. His h-index is 50 and has about 8,000 times citations (Google Scholar). He has won the first prize for Science & Technology Progress Award of the Ministry of Education of China and the second prize for Natural Science Award of the Ministry of Education of China. In 2018, He won the Advances in Cleaner Production Network (ACPN) Medal Award: Young Researcher and in 2024 he won MAO Yisheng Beijing Youth Science and Technology Award.

Thermodynamic-based ecological scaling theory in urban metabolic framework: a review. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 2025, 19(1): 4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-025-1924-8

We thank the award committee for their diligent work in selecting the winners of this year’s Young Talent Award. In June, 2025, we will welcome your nominations for the 2026 Young Talent Award

Jiuhui Qu and John C. Crittenden

Editors-in-Chief

November 5, 2024

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2024 Higher Education Press 2024