Bio

Zhang is a climate-smart agronomist whose work contributes to increasing crop productivity with reduced environmental impact. During his PhD at UC Davis, Zhang focused on the impact that year-long fallows had on carbon-nitrogen cycling in California rice. Using robust field research, Zhang’s results contributed to the development of sustainable nitrogen fertilizer guidelines and complete year-round greenhouse gas inventories for regional emissions estimations. In addition to empirical work, Zhang has also conducted multiple systematic reviews. The most notable was the development of a new framework for carbon balance accounting in rice systems, integrating key components such as greenhouse gas emissions and soil carbon change. Currently, Zhang is exploring scalable technical options to suppress methane emissions and reduce carbon footprint through alternating soil chemical conditions and atmospheric carbon capture. Together with that, he is also exploring the use of laser-based technologies for field-scale level methane flux measurements. “Feeding the world” was the promise he made at the start of his scientific journey – and one that he hopes to keep by testing bold ideas with great rigour.

Professional Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of California Davis (2025)
  • Bachelor of Science, University of California Davis (2021)

Stanford Advisors

Contact

  • Academic
    zhangzhl@stanford.edu
    University - Scholar Department: Department of Earth System Science Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

Additional Info

Links

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Climate change mitigation and sustainable nutrient management in agroecosystems

All Publications

  • Agronomic performance and nitrogen management of continuous rice systems following a year-long fallow AGRONOMY JOURNAL Zhang, Z., Olk, D. C., Espino, L. A., Roel-Rezk, V., Linquist, B. A. 2025; 117 (5)

    View details for DOI 10.1002/agj2.70182

    View details for Web of Science ID 001582932000001

  • Physiological action of bioherbicides in weed control: a systematic review FRONTIERS IN AGRONOMY Zhang, Z., Becerra-Alvarez, A., Al-Khatib, K. 2025; 7

    View details for DOI 10.3389/fagro.2025.1633565

    View details for Web of Science ID 001555990400001

  • Greenhouse gas emissions altered by the introduction of a year-long fallow to continuous rice systems. Journal of environmental quality Zhang, Z., Fenster, T. L., Linquist, B. A. 2025

    Abstract

    Rice (Oryza sativa L.) production in California follows a norm of mono-cropping with little to no rotations or fallows. Both winter droughts, which lead to water restrictions, and spring rains, which inhibit field machinery operations, have resulted in increased fallow frequencies, where no crop is grown during the summer growing season. A 3-year field study was conducted to investigate summer and winter greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (CH4 and N2O) in three treatments: continuous rice (CR), rice following the introduction of a year-long fallow (FR), and the fallow phase (F). Summer CH4 emissions were lower in FR than CR in 2 out of 3 years, averaging a 33% reduction across years. Particulate organic carbon and mineral-associated organic carbon levels in CR and FR were similar in the year with no treatment effect on CH4 emissions-potentially due to differences in residue management. There were negligible summer CH4 emissions in F. Summer N2O emissions were low for all three treatments. Summer global warming potentials (GWP) accounted for more than 96% of annual GWP in CR (13,937 kg CO2eq ha-1) and FR (9,236 kg CO2eq ha-1). For F, the winter season accounted for 94% of the annual GWP (413 kg CO2eq ha-1) due to N2O emissions. Overall, this study provides a valuable resource for quantifying changes in GHG emissions when fallow periods are introduced into rice monoculture in California.

    View details for DOI 10.1002/jeq2.70055

    View details for PubMedID 40538379

  • Introduction of a Fallow Year to Continuous Rice Systems Enhances Crop Soil Nitrogen Uptake EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE Zhang, Z., Olk, D. C., Linquist, B. A. 2025; 76 (1)

    View details for DOI 10.1111/ejss.70046

    View details for Web of Science ID 001409205900001

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2528-5394