Dr. Zhisheng An is a distinguished geoscientist and leading authority in monsoon dynamics and global change research. He currently serves as Professor at the Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Xi'an, where he previously directed the institute from 1999 to 2002 and continues to chair the Academic Committee. Elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1991 and as a Foreign Associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2016, he has established himself as one of China's most influential environmental scientists. Dr. An graduated from Nanjing University with a degree in Geology in 1962 and began his research career at the Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1966, where he conducted pioneering work on loess, paleoclimate, and paleomagnetism.
Dr. An's groundbreaking research on Chinese loess deposits has fundamentally transformed our understanding of Asian monsoon dynamics and their relationship to global climate change. He and his group pioneered Chinese loess and environment studies in the 1980s, and around 1990 proposed the influential 'paleomonsoon control theory' which hypothesized that East Asian environmental changes since the late Cenozoic were largely controlled by monsoon variations. His work successfully connected geological past and present climate dynamics through meticulous analysis of loess-paleosol sequences and speleothem records, including the discovery that oxygen isotope records in five stalagmites from Hulu Cave near Nanjing remarkably resemble climate signals from Greenland ice cores. With over 400 scientific publications including more than 30 papers in Science, Nature, and PNAS, his research has provided key evidence for the global significance of Asian monsoons and their role in Earth's climate system.
Beyond his research contributions, Dr. An has been instrumental in shaping international climate science through leadership roles including Vice Chairman of the International Union for Quaternary Research from 1999 to 2007 and Vice Chair of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme steering committee from 2003 to 2006. He serves as an editor for Quaternary Science Reviews and has mentored dozens of graduate students throughout his career, including currently supervising 12 doctoral candidates. His work extends to practical applications through research on sustainable development strategies for the Loess Plateau and western China, where he advocates for balanced development between natural preservation and economic progress based on natural vegetation recovery principles. Dr. An continues to advance our understanding of monsoon dynamics and global climate changes while providing critical scientific guidance for environmental policy and sustainable development in China and globally.
