Prof Zongbo Shi PhD

Professor Zongbo Shi

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Professor of Atmospheric Biogeochemistry

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 9128
Email
z.shi@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

The atmosphere and atmospheric processes interact with the biogeochemistry of the earth system. This in turn affects human and environmental health, air quality and climate. My group addresses three areas of research central to these impacts:

  • Sources and emissions of chemical substances to the atmosphere
  • Physical and chemical transformation of aerosol particles and their constituents in the atmosphere
  • Interaction of atmospheric chemistry with biogeochemistry of ecosystems

Our work combines field measurement, laboratory analyses, chamber simulation, and numerical modelling approaches.  Our research delivers fundamental understanding of the air pollution and biogeochemical cycling processes, providing knowledge to underpin sustainable developments.

Qualifications

  • PhD Environmental Sciences- China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing)
  • BA Geology – Anhui University of Science and Technology, China

Teaching

BSc Environmental Sciences / Geography / Earth Sciences

  • EVS229 Environmental Pollution

MSc Air Pollution Management and Control (as Programme lead)

  • Air pollution chemistry
  • Air pollution control technology and management
  • Causes and effects of air Pollutants

Postgraduate supervision

Zongbo Shi has research interests in atmospheric aerosol chemistry and global biogeochemical cycles. He is currently working on the following projects:

Novel approaches to the evaluation of iron and phosphorus availability in dust deposited to the oceans
Developing new understandings of the fundamental pathways of Fe in mineral aerosols from Saharan soils to the marine ecosystem in surface seawater

Dr Shi is also investigating the role of atmospheric processing of dust in P biogeochemical cycles. He welcomes enquiries from prospective doctoral researchers in his areas of interest.

PhD opportunities

Doctoral research

PhD title
Physicochemical properties and bioreactivities of PM10 and PM2.5 in Beijing air

Other activities

  • Fellow of High Education Academy
  • Member of Royal Society of Chemistry
  • Member of European Association of Geochemistry: 
  • Member of NERC peer review college
  • Reviewer of US Natural Science Foundation (NSF), French ANR and Czech Science Foundation
  • Reviewer of Environmental Science & Technology; Natural Geosciences; Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmosphere; Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics; Chemosphere; Atmospheric Environment; Tellus-B; Environmental Chemistry etc.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Liu, B, Bryson, JR, Sevinc, D, Cole, M, Elliott, R, Bartington, S, Bloss, W & Shi, Z 2023, 'Assessing the Impacts of Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone on Air Quality: Estimates from a Machine Learning and Synthetic Control Approach', Environmental and Resource Economics, vol. 86, no. 1-2, pp. 203-231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-023-00794-2, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-023-00794-2

Song, C, Liu, B, Cheng, K, Cole, MA, Dai, Q, Elliott, RJR & Shi, Z 2023, 'Attribution of air quality benefits to clean winter heating polices in China: combining machine learning with causal inference', Environmental Science and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c06800

Srivastava, D, Li, W, Tong, S, Shi, Z & Harrison, RM 2023, 'Characterization of products formed from the oxidation of toluene and m-xylene with varying NOx and OH exposure', Chemosphere, vol. 334, 139002. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139002

Brean, J, Rowell, A, Beddows, D, Shi, Z & Harrison, R 2023, 'Estimates of Future New Particle Formation under Different Emission Scenarios in Beijing', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 57, no. 12, pp. 4741-4750. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c08348

Dyson, JE, Whalley, LK, Slater, EJ, Woodward-Massey, R, Ye, C, Lee, JD, Squires, F, Hopkins, JR, Dunmore, RE, Shaw, M, Hamilton, JF, Lewis, AC, Worrall, SD, Bacak, A, Mehra, A, Bannan, TJ, Coe, H, Percival, CJ, Ouyang, B, Hewitt, CN, Jones, RL, Crilley, LR, Kramer, LJ, Acton, WJF, Bloss, WJ, Saksakulkrai, S, Xu, J, Shi, Z, Harrison, RM, Kotthaus, S, Grimmond, S, Sun, Y, Xu, W, Yue, S, Wei, L, Fu, P, Wang, X, Arnold, SR & Heard, DE 2023, 'Impact of HO2 aerosol uptake on radical levels and O3 production during summertime in Beijing', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 23, no. 10, pp. 5679-5697. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5679-2023

Zhong, J, Hodgson, JR, Bloss, W & Shi, Z 2023, 'Impacts of net zero policies on air quality in a metropolitan area of the United Kingdom: Towards world health organization air quality guidelines', Environmental Research, vol. 236, 116704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.116704

Wang, H, Wang, H, Lu, X, Lu, K, Zhang, L, Tham, YJ, Shi, Z, Aikin, K, Fan, S, Brown, SS & Zhang, Y 2023, 'Increased night-time oxidation over China despite widespread decrease across the globe', Nature Geoscience. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01122-x

Tian, Y, Wang, X, Zhao, P, Shi, Z & Harrison, R 2023, 'PM2.5 source apportionment using organic marker-based chemical mass balance modeling: influence of inorganic markers and sensitivity to source profiles', Atmospheric Environment, vol. 294, 119477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2022.119477

Wu, X, Harrison, RM, Yan, J, Wu, T, Shen, Y, Cui, Y, Liu, X, Yi, H, Shi, Z & Xue, Y 2023, 'Present and future emission characteristics of air pollutants and CO2 from the Beijing transport sector and their synergistic emission reduction benefits', Atmospheric Pollution Research, vol. 14, no. 9, 101844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2023.101844

Zhang, G, Hu, X, Sun, W, Yang, Y, Guo, Z, Fu, Y, Wang, H, Zhou, S, Li, L, Tang, M, Shi, Z, Chen, D, Bi, X & Wang, X 2022, 'A comprehensive study about the in-cloud processing of nitrate through coupled measurements of individual cloud residuals and cloud water', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 22, no. 14, pp. 9571-9582. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9571-2022

Alwadei, M, Srivastava, D, Alam, MS, Shi, Z & Bloss, WJ 2022, 'Chemical characteristics and source apportionment of particulate matter (PM2.5) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia: impact of dust storms', Atmospheric Environment: X, vol. 14, 100164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeaoa.2022.100164

Kraisitnitikul, P, Thepnuan, D, Chansuebsri, S, Yabueng, N, Wiriya, W, Saksakulkrai, S, Shi, Z & Chantara, S 2024, 'Contrasting compositions of PM2.5 in Northern Thailand during La Niña (2017) and El Niño (2019) years', Journal of Environmental Sciences, vol. 135, pp. 585-599. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jes.2022.09.026

Saleem, M, Iqbal, J, Shi, Z, Garrett, SH & Shah, MH 2022, 'Distribution and bioaccumulation of essential and toxic metals in tissues of thaila (Catla catla) from a natural lake, Pakistan and its possible health impact on consumers', Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, vol. 10, no. 7, 933. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10070933

Wang, Z, Yu, H, Liang, W, Wang, F, Wang, G, Chen, D, Wang, W, Zhao, H, Feng, Y, Shi, Z & Shi, G 2022, 'Ensemble source apportionment of air pollutants and carbon dioxide based on online measurements', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 370, 133468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.133468

Review article

Chantara, S, Saksakulkrai, S & Shi, Z 2023, 'Airborne particulate matter in Southeast Asia: a review on variation, chemical compositions and source apportionment', Environmental Chemistry, vol. 19, no. 7, pp. 401-431. https://doi.org/10.1071/EN22044

View all publications in research portal