Zhan joined the Russell group as a postdoctoral scholar in December 2009, after earning her PhD at the University of California, Davis. Her work focused on coupling Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF/Chem) with an the Multiscale Aerosol Climate Model (MACM) to study the impact of local vs. non-local aerosol on regional climate and air quality simulation. She is now an Air Quality Specialist at the California Air Research Board.