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Quan Chen

Quan Chen

  • Position: Visiting Research Fellow
  • Areas of expertise: Biogeochemistry; Phosphorus cycling; Eutrophication; Diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT); Earth history
  • Email: Q.Chen@leeds.ac.uk
  • Location: 8.154 School of Earth and Environment
  • Website: Researchgate | ORCID

Profile

I am a visiting research fellow at the University of Leeds and a postdoctoral researcher in Environmental Geochemistry at the Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Research interests

My research centers on phosphorus cycling and eutrophication in lakes and reservoirs, focusing on sediment-water interface processes. I study how redox-sensitive metals, such as iron and manganese, regulate phosphorus mobilization under reducing conditions, using high-resolution in situ techniques like diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) to probe trace metal and nutrient dynamics in sediments.

Currently, my work extends to phosphorus cycling between marine sediments and seawater across different redox conditions throughout Earth history, exploring how phosphorus availability-a key limiting nutrient over geological timescales-interacts with broader biogeochemical processes.

Research projects

Some research projects I'm currently working on, or have worked on, will be listed below.

(1) National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Young Scientists Fund Project (Category C), Simulation Study on the Microscopic Mechanisms of Manganese-Driven Phosphorus Activation and Migration in Lake-Reservoir Environments. 2026 to 2028; 300,000 CNY; Principal Investigator.

(2) China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, Nationally Funded Postdoctoral Program (Category C), Geochemical Behavior of Phosphorus in Subsurface Flow Zones of Karst Lakes and Reservoirs. 2025 to 2026; 240,000 CNY; Principal Investigator.

(3) National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), General Program, Mechanisms of the Influence of Subsurface Flow Sulfides on the Geochemical Properties and Environmental Behavior of NOM–Fe Colloids. 2022 to 2025; 560,000 CNY; Participant.

(4) National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), General Program, Oxygen Isotope Effects in the Bioavailability of Organic Phosphorus by Algae in Eutrophic Lake Waters. 2020 to 2023; 610,000 CNY; Participant.

Qualifications

  • Ph.D: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: Environmental science, 2020-2023
  • M.Sc.: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: Environmental Engineering, 2016-2019
  • B.Sc.: Nankai University: Environmental Engineering, 2012-2016

Student education

Research groups and institutes

Earth Surface Science Institute

Cohen Geochemistry

Palaeo@Leeds