Internationally regarded geographer honored as WMU's Emerging Scholar

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Globally recognized for his pioneering work related to extreme weather and climate change, Dr. Laiyin Zhu, associate professor in Western Michigan University's School of Environment, Geography and Sustainability, is being celebrated for his growing contributions to his field.

Zhu will be recognized with the Emerging Scholar Award during Western's Fall Awards Celebration on Friday, Oct. 3, at 11 a.m. in Kirsch Auditorium at the Fetzer Center.

Awarded annually, the Emerging Scholar Award recognizes the accomplishments of WMU faculty members who are among the rising stars in U.S. higher education. Their scholarship is regarded for its impact on advancing knowledge in their discipline and beyond.

“Dr. Zhu’s strong commitment to advancing knowledge, along with expanding contributions in innovative research and scholarly engagement, has made a meaningful impact at WMU and internationally,” says Dr. Chris Cheatham, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. “His work reinforces WMU’s commitment to providing a high-quality education for our Broncos. Congratulations to Dr. Zhu—we are excited to see his accomplishments in the years to come.”

Zhu, who joined Western's faculty in 2015, earned his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. His research focuses on enhancing understanding of tropical cyclone precipitation and inland flooding. This includes a groundbreaking study, which, for the first time, quantified the role of dust from the Saharan Desert on hurricane rainfall in the Atlantic Basin.

"Integrating historical data, machine learning, and diverse analysis and modeling approaches, his groundbreaking research makes not only theoretical contributions to our understanding of the patterns and causes of variations in tropical cyclone precipitation but also has significantly broader implications on adaptation, management and mitigation of such tropical cyclone events by water managers, hydrologists, urban planners and engineers," says Dr. Chansheng He, professor and Distinguished Faculty Scholar in Western's School of Environment, Geography and Sustainability.

Zhu has published more than two dozen papers—most of them since his arrival at WMU—in prestigious climatology and geoscience journals, and his work has been cited hundreds of times as well as featured in major news outlets, such as Scientific America and Newsweek. He was also selected as a fellow in the American Association of Geographers' inaugural, 15-member Climate Change & Society Cohort. As part of this group, he received training to leverage media and other public channels as a voice for public policies and advocate for change.

"Professor Zhu's dedication to using geography as a tool to address pressing global issues, such as social impact of extreme weather events, urbanization and climate change mitigation and adaptation, etc., demonstrates the practical relevance and societal impact of his work," says Dr. Yuan Wang, assistant professor of Earth system science at Stanford University.

Zhu's outstanding work and innovative research has been rewarded with multiple internal and external grants to fuel continued scholarship in his field. He has also been invited to deliver guest lectures nearly a dozen times at prestigious institutes around the world.

At the Fall Awards Celebration, Zhu will be honored alongside recipients of other prestigious campuswide awards: Distinguished Faculty Scholar, Distinguished Service, Distinguished Teaching, Excellence in Diversity and annual Make a Difference awards. 

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