Li Xu

Biography

Li Xu, Ph.D., is Assistant Project Scientist in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine. A climate scientist specializing in aerosol-chemistry-climate interactions, Xu has focused his research on understanding the impacts of wildfire emissions, sea salt aerosols, and atmospheric chemistry on global and regional climate systems using advanced Earth system models including the Department of Energy's E3SM and NCAR's CESM.

Xu received his Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Space Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2012, where he also earned an M.A. in Statistics in 2010 and an M.S. in Atmospheric Science in 2006. He completed his undergraduate studies with a B.S. in Atmospheric Science from Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China in 2001. Prior to his current position, Xu served as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Scripps Institution of Oceanography from 2012 to 2015, where he developed parameterizations for sea salt aerosol production from frost flowers and studied their climate impacts in the Arctic.

Xu has authored over 25 peer-reviewed publications in leading atmospheric science journals and has presented his research at numerous international conferences including the American Geophysical Union Fall meetings and E3SM Principal Investigator meetings. He serves as a reviewer for multiple journals including Nature Communications, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmosphere, and Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. His current research involves developing machine learning surrogate models for wildfire activities, managing multi-decade emission datasets, and coordinating annual progress reports for the DOE's Biological and Environmental Research program.

Education

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Space Science, University of Michigan, 2012
• M.A. in Statistics, University of Michigan, 2010
• M.S. in Atmospheric Science, University of Michigan, 2006
• B.S. in Atmospheric Science, Sun Yat-Sen University, 2001