Feng received his Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from the University of Southern California in 2021 and did his postdoc training at NCAR.

Feng's research interests fall in the application of paleoclimate modeling and data assimilation, model-data comparison, as well as machine learning, to better understand the climate system and validate climate models. In addition, Feng enjoys and has made lots of efforts on scientific software engineering, developing tools to facilitate efficient and reproducible research and open science.

Research Interests

  • Paleoclimate Data Assimilation
  • Paleoclimate Modeling
  • Proxy System Modeling
  • Climate Informatics


Scientific Datasets

pseudoPAGES2k: A pseudoproxy emulation of the PAGES 2k database using a hierarchy of proxy system models

Scientific Software Projects

cfr: a Python package for climate field reconstruction
Pyleoclim: utilities for paleoclimate data analysis and visualization
pens: utilities for comparing paleoclimate reconstruction ensembles

Selected Publications

  • Zhu, F., Emile-Geay, J., Anchukaitis, K.J., Hakim, G.J., Wittenberg, A.T., Morales, M.S., Toohey, M., King, J., 2022. A re-appraisal of the ENSO response to volcanism with paleoclimate data assimilation. Nature Communications 13, 747. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28210-1
  • Zhu, F., Emile-Geay, J., McKay, N.P., Hakim, G.J., Khider, D., Ault, T.R., Steig, E.J., Dee, S., Kirchner, J.W., 2019. Climate models can correctly simulate the continuum of global-average temperature variability. PNAS 201809959. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809959116
  • Zhu, F., Emile-Geay, J., Hakim, G.J., King, J., Anchukaitis, K.J., 2020. Resolving the Differences in the Simulated and Reconstructed Temperature Response to Volcanism. Geophysical Research Letters 47, e2019GL086908. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086908
  • Zhu, F., Emile-Geay, J., Hakim, G.J., Guillot, D., Khider, D., Tardif, R., Perkins, W.A., 2024. cfr (v2024.1.26): a Python package for climate field reconstruction. Geoscientific Model Development 17, 3409-3431. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3409-2024
  • Zhu, F., Emile-Geay, J., Anchukaitis, K.J., McKay, N.P., Stevenson, S., Meng, Z., 2023. A pseudoproxy emulation of the PAGES 2k database using a hierarchy of proxy system models. Scientific Data 10, 624. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086908
  • Khider, D., Emile-Geay, J., Zhu, F., James, A., Landers, J., Ratnakar, V., Gil, Y., 2022. Pyleoclim: Paleoclimate Timeseries Analysis and Visualization With Python. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 37, e2022PA004509. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022PA004509
  • Emile-Geay, J., Cobb, K.M., Cole, J.E., Elliot, M., Zhu, F., 2020. Past ENSO Variability: Observations, Models, and Implications, in: El Niño Southern Oscillation in a Changing Climate. American Geophysical Union (AGU), pp. 87-118. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119548164.ch5
  • Power, S., Lengaigne, M., Capotondi, A., Khodri, M., Vialard, J., Jebri, B., Guilyardi, E., McGregor, S., Kug, J.-S., Newman, M., McPhaden, M.J., Meehl, G., Smith, D., Cole, J., Emile-Geay, J., Vimont, D., Wittenberg, A.T., Collins, M., Kim, G.-I., Cai, W., Okumura, Y., Chung, C., Cobb, K.M., Delage, F., Planton, Y.Y., Levine, A., Zhu, F., Sprintall, J., Di Lorenzo, E., Zhang, X., Luo, J.-J., Lin, X., Balmaseda, M., Wang, G., Henley, B.J., 2021. Decadal climate variability in the tropical Pacific: Characteristics, causes, predictability, and prospects. Science 374, eaay9165. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay9165
  • PAGES 2k Consortium, 2019. Consistent multidecadal variability in global temperature reconstructions and simulations over the Common Era. Nature Geoscience 12, 643-649. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0400-0
  • King, J.M., Anchukaitis, K.J., Tierney, J.E., Hakim, G.J., Emile-Geay, J., Zhu, F., Wilson, R., 2021. A data assimilation approach to last millennium temperature field reconstruction using a limited high-sensitivity proxy network. Journal of Climate 1, 1-64. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0661.1