Yanzhang

Li

Yanzhang Li obtained his Ph.D. from Peking University, China, where he investigated energy transfer and electron exchange between minerals, microbes, fluids, and organic matters. These processes underpin Earth’s material cycles, drive environmental evolution, and influence the emergence of life. Li has utilized ultrafast optical methods to uncover nonequilibrium structural and energetic transformations in minerals, developed data-driven approaches to study mineral electron-transfer behaviors, and advanced understanding of mineral-mediated carbon and nitrogen fixation under both early Earth and planetary conditions. Li will work primarily with Dr. Robert Hazen and his team, and will employ mineral informatics as a central framework to understand deep-time mineral evolution, to study how mineral-driven processes contributed to the origin of life, and to guide the search for biosignatures on terrestrial planets.