About me

Hello, my name is Tian and I am an earth scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory located in Richland, Washington, USA. I received my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Geosciences and Quaternary Geology from Lanzhou University in China. In 2007, I relocated to the United States and earned my PhD in Water Resources Engineering from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF). After working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Land Surface Hydrology Group (later Computational Hydrology Group) at the University of Washington for three years, I joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher before being promoted to a staff scientist.

My research focus is on hydrological processes at various spatial and temporal scales. I have investigated a range of topics in my career, including (from earliest to most recent):

• The cause of the Yellow River cutting off the Shanxi-Shaanxi George (Lanzhou University)
• The impact of river restoration on surface flow hydrodynamics and hyporheic flows (SUNY-ESF)
• The use of TRMM near-real-time products for flood forecasting (University of Washington)
• The comparison of man-made reservoir variations with natural water storage variations, such as soil moisture and snow water equivalent, at a global scale (University of Washington)
• The effects of upstream dam operations on hyporheic exchange patterns in the Columbia River (PNNL)
• Future projections for hydropower generation in the United States (PNNL)
• Assessing irrigation water allocations from both surface and groundwater sources (PNNL)
• Characterizing the spatial and temporal patterns of global floods (PNNL)
• Integrating land, ocean, and river components in the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) (PNNL)

Down below is a cloud map of my research interest generated by this website:

In my leisure time, I enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking and biking, as well as traveling. I am also an enthusiastic landscape photographer, capturing the stunning beauty of nature through my lens. My photography can be viewed here.