Personal profile
Qualifications
B.Sc. (Hons) in Safety Engineering, Central South University, P.R. China, 2006-2010
PhD in Geography & Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK, 2011-2015
Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, 2022
Research interests
His research areas are:
- Modelling the interaction of emissions, chemical and dynamical processes across scales
- Modelling the evolution of environmental nanoparticles
- Modelling of weather and climate
- Geographical data analytics for health modelling
- Translating environmental research science into impacts
He has contributed to a number of research projects as PI, Co-I or Named Researcher etc:
- 06/24-08/25 Forest of Arden air quality and land use, The National Trust, PI: Prof Mackenzie, CoI: Dr. Zhong, £15,000.
- 03/24-02/26 Evaporative Volatile Organic Compounds Emissions from Vehicles in Urban Areas: Contribution to urban ozone pollution, Royal Society International Exchanges 2023 Cost Share (NSFC), PI: Dr. Zhong, CoIs: Profs Harrison, Bloss, Shi, Radcliffe, £12,000.
- 10/23-09/26 A Health-centred Systems Approach towards Net-Zero: Transforming regional climate mitigation policies, Wellcome Trust, PI: Prof. Shi, £2m. (Named Researcher Co-I)
- 10/23-09/28 Global Centers Track 1: CLEETS - CLean Energy and Equitable Transportation Solutions, EPSRC, Prof Radcliffe, £6.2m. (Named Researcher Co-I)
- 01/23-12/23 Sustainable Urban Planning To Mitigate Overheating, Institutional QR Policy Support Fund - Research England, PI: Dr. Zhong, CoIs: Drs Ferranti, Stocker (CERC), Thomas (SurveyAR Ltd), Grayson (BCC), £49,557.
- 04/22-05/22 Bridge the link between carbon and air pollutant emissions, IGI Clean Air – Proof of Concept fund 2021-22, PI: Dr. Zhong, CoIs: Drs Wang and Macintyre (UKHSA), £5,000.
- 04/22-03/23 Research Infrastructures Services Reinforcing Air Quality Monitoring Capacities in European Urban & Industrial AreaS (RI-URBANS), H2020-EU.1.4., ID 101036245, PI: Prof. Harrison, €410,000. (Named Researcher Co-I)
- 10/21-03/22 Understanding synergies and tensions in air quality–climate adaptation needs: A UK-India Proof of Concept, NERC, PI: Prof. Bloss, £134,000. (Named Researcher)
- 10/21-03/22 UK-China Collaboration to Optimise net zero Policy options for Air Quality and health (COP-AQ), NERC, £630,000, PI: Prof. Shi. (Named Researcher Co-I)
- 01/20-03/22 Multi-model Air Quality System for Health (MAQS-Health), Strategic Priorities Fund, Clean Air Programme CA19-1, BEIS / Met Office (DN424739), PI: Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants Ltd (CERC), £700,000. (Named Researcher Co-I)
- 01/19-12/24 WM-Air: West Midlands Air Quality Improvement Programme, NERC (NE/S003487/1), PI: Prof. Bloss; CoIs: Profs Pope, Bryson, Thomas, Chapman, Harrison, MacKenzie, Shi, Drs Cai, Jowett, Bartington, £5m. (Named Researcher)
- 01/16-03/20 Biotelemetry/Bio-aerial platforms in the Urban Boundary Layer (Cityflocks), NERC (NE/N003195/1), PI: Dr Cai; CoIs: Profs MacKenzie, Chapman, Sadler, Drs Reynolds, Quinn, Thomas, £826,481. (Named Researcher Co-I)
- 04/13-03/18 Fundamental Studies of the Sources, Properties and Environmental Behaviour of Exhaust Nanoparticles from Road Vehicles (FASTER), EU ERC, PI: Prof. Harrison; CoIs: Prof MacKenzie, Dr Cai et al., €2.4m. (Normal PDRA)
His research outputs have contributed to the impact delivery, e.g.
- The AIR WE BREATHE exhibition
- Science Futures at Glastonbury Festival
- UK Fluid Network Gallery and BBC One Panorama
- Industry engagement
- Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report 2022: Air Pollution
- West Midlands Air Quality Framework
- Low Traffic neighbourhood scheme in Birmingham
- DEFRA target-setting consultation in West Midlands context
- 2021 WHO Air Quality Guidelines and Implications for the West Midlands
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 2 Zero Hunger -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure -
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 15 Life on Land
My gallery
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Air quality and health co-benefits of bus electrification: evidence from a UK metropolitan area
Zhong, J., Gojamgunde, T., Hall, J., Hang, Y., Bartington, S. E., Stocker, J., Bloss, W. J. & Shi, Z., Feb 2026, In: Environment international. 208, 9 p., 110066.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Air pollution mapping and variability over five European cities
Sartelet, K., Kerckhoffs, J., Athanasopoulou, E., Lugon, L., Vasilescu, J., Zhong, J., Hoek, G., Joly, C., Park, S. J., Talianu, C., van den Elshout, S., Dugay, F., Gerasopoulos, E., Ilie, A., Kim, Y., Nicolae, D., Harrison, R. M. & Petäjä, T., May 2025, In: Environment international. 199, 18 p., 109474.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile40 Downloads (Pure) -
Insights into the utility of small form air quality monitoring in health care environments: lessons learned from the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Cowell, N., Baldo, C., Williams, K., Muller, C., Hou, S., Rooney, D., Zhong, J., Healey, S., Bloss, W. J. & Bartington, S. E., 26 Aug 2025, In: Frontiers in public health. 13, 14 p., 1634075.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Downloads (Pure) -
Modelling temperature variations in Birmingham, UK at the neighbourhood scale: Using ADMS-Urban climate model
Zhong, J., Lu, Y., Stocker, J., Hamilton, V. & Johnson, K., 1 Sept 2025, In: Sustainable Cities and Society. 131, 16 p., 106666.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile44 Downloads (Pure) -
Scaling up from local to regional: progress in mapping climate risk and vulnerability across the West Midlands for decision-making
Greenham, S., Ferranti, E., Cork, N., Jones, S., Zhong, J., Haskins, B., Grayson, N., Needle, S., Acton, J., MacKenzie, R. & Bloss, W., 30 May 2025, Proceedings of the III International Symposium on Greener Cities: Improving Ecosystem Services in a Climate-Changing World (GreenCities2024). Blanuša, T. & Gush, M. (eds.). 1 ed. Wisley, Woking, UK: International Society for Horticultural Science, p. 439-448 9 p. (Acta Horticulturae; vol. 1429).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
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INHABIT (Indoor HABItability during the Transition to Net Zero Housing)
Bloss, W. (Co-Investigator), Zhong, J. (Co-Investigator), Shi, Z. (Principal Investigator), Elliott, R. (Co-Investigator), Prestwood, E. (Co-Investigator), Pfrang, C. (Co-Investigator), Dai, Y. (Co-Investigator), Bartington, S. (Co-Investigator), Jowett, S. (Co-Investigator), Shan, Y. (Co-Investigator), Freer, M. (Co-Investigator) & Liu, B. (Co-Investigator)
13/02/25 → 12/02/30
Project: Research
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WM-Adapt: Maximising Adaptation to Climate Change in the West Midlands, and beyond
Pykett, J. (Co-Investigator), Zhong, J. (Researcher), Hall, J. (Researcher), Quinn, A. (Co-Investigator), Greenham, S. (Researcher), Hodgson, J. (Researcher), Bartington, S. (Co-Investigator), Xia, X. (Co-Investigator) & Ferranti, E. (Principal Investigator)
Natural Environment Research Council
1/12/24 → 31/05/27
Project: Research Councils
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Evaporative Volatile Organic Compounds Emissions from Vehicles in Urban Areas: Contribution to urban ozone pollution
Bloss, W. (Co-Investigator), Radcliffe, J. (Co-Investigator), Shi, Z. (Co-Investigator), Zhong, J. (Principal Investigator) & Harrison, R. (Co-Investigator)
31/03/24 → 30/03/26
Project: Research Councils
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Exploring options for future regional "stretch" air quality targets
Zhong, J. (Co-Investigator), Acton, J. (Co-Investigator) & Bloss, W. (Principal Investigator)
West Midlands Combined Authority
1/07/24 → 28/02/25
Project: Research
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Forest of Arden air quality and land use
MacKenzie, R. (Principal Investigator) & Zhong, J. (Co-Investigator)
10/06/24 → 16/08/24
Project: Research
Datasets
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Dataset_WRF-LES-UFP_model
Harrison, R. (Creator) & Zhong, J. (Creator), University of Birmingham, 2019
DOI: 10.25500/edata.bham.00000366
Dataset
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Dataset WRF-LES UFP model London case
Harrison, R. (Creator), Zhong, J. (Creator), Cai, X. (Creator) & MacKenzie, R. (Creator), University of Birmingham, 2019
DOI: 10.25500/edata.bham.00000399
Dataset
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Research data supporting “Modelling the dispersion of particle number concentrations in the West Midlands, UK using the ADMS-Urban model”
Harrison, R. (Creator), Zhong, J. (Creator) & Bloss, W. (Creator), University of Birmingham, 22 Jun 2023
DOI: 10.25500/edata.bham.00000964
Dataset
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Research data supporting “ADMS-Urban modelling of black carbon over the West Midlands, United Kingdom: Sensitivity test of traffic emission factor adjustments”
Zhong, J. (Creator), Li, Y. (Creator), Bloss, W. (Creator) & Harrison, R. (Creator), University of Birmingham, 8 Jul 2024
DOI: 10.25500/edata.bham.00001141
Dataset
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Air Quality Life Assessment Tool
Hall, J. (Creator), Jowett, S. (Creator), Zhong, J. (Creator), Mazzeo, A. (Creator), Thomas, N. (Creator) & Bartington, S. (Creator), University of Birmingham, 27 Mar 2023
DOI: 10.25500/edata.bham.00000935
Dataset
Activities
- 1 Editorial board of a journal
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Atmosphere (Journal)
Zhong, J. (Guest editor)
29 Oct 2022 → 30 Apr 2024Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work › Editorial board of a journal
Prizes
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3RD PLACE UKFN Video Competition #12
Zhong, J. (Recipient), 6 Sept 2022
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Best technical solution
Powell, T. (Recipient), Zhong, J. (Recipient), Wang, F. (Recipient) & Al-Adly, A. (Recipient), Jul 2022
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Press/Media
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Street scale turbulent flow: pollutant dispersion
6/09/22
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media