Zhen ZHANG

Research

I am a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and a Visiting Scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL).

My research lies at the intersection of environmental seismology, geomorphology, and natural-hazard science. I use seismic observations and physical modeling to investigate landslides, debris flows, and glacial lake outburst floods, with the goal of improving the detection, characterization, and understanding of hazardous mass movements.

A particular focus of my work is extracting information about flow dynamics, particle impacts, and geomorphic change from high-frequency seismic signals. I also study cascading hazards in mountain environments, including how major landslides and associated processes can trigger earthquakes and reshape landscapes.

Background

I received my Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2021. During my doctoral studies, I was a Visiting Ph.D. Student at the Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology at ETH Zürich from 2019 to 2020.

Before joining CUHK as a Research Assistant Professor in 2025, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Programme at CUHK (2022–2024) and at WSL (2024–2025).

Research interests

• Environmental seismology
• Landslides and debris flows
• Glacial lake outburst floods
• Seismic monitoring of mass movements
• High-frequency seismic signatures of debris flows
• Hazard cascades and geomorphic impacts in mountain regions

Representative publications

• Zhang, Z., Liu, M., Tan, Y. J., Walter, F., He, S., Chmiel, M., and Su, J. (2024), Landslide hazard cascades can trigger earthquakes, Nature Communications, 15, 2878.
• Zhang, Z., Tan, Y. J., Walter, F., He, S., Chmiel, M., and Su, J. (2024), Seismic monitoring and geomorphic impact of the catastrophic 2018 Baige landslide hazard cascades in the Tibetan Plateau, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 129, e2023JF007363.
• Zhang, Z., Walter, F., McArdell, B., de Haas, T., Wenner, M., Chmiel, M., and He, S. (2021), Analyzing bulk flow characteristics of debris flows using their high-frequency seismic signature, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 126, e2021JB022755.
• Zhang, Z., Walter, F., McArdell, B., Wenner, M., Chmiel, M., de Haas, T., and He, S. (2021), Insight from the particle impact model into the high-frequency seismic signature of debris flows, Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2020GL088994.
• Zhang, Z., and He, S. (2019), Analysis of broadband seismic recordings of landslide using empirical Green’s function, Geophysical Research Letters, 46(9), 4628–4635.

Honors and awards

• Dean Excellence Award, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2021
• Dean Excellence Award, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2020
• International Exchange Scholarship, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2019