Welcome to Chengzheng Yong’s website!

Hi! My name is Chengzheng Yong (雍骋正), or you can call my English name “Copland”. I am currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis. I am looking for postdoc positions, please contact me if interested!

My Science Research

In general, my research interests lie on a vast range of topics throughout the solar system, especially those related to water. For example, the Marsian water history, the Lunar water resource utilization, and the water on the icy moons. I hope my studies could pave a little rock on the road to astrobiology.

Molecular Emission Line Tool (MELT)

This is a web-based database and search interface for molecular emission lines. You can simply try it out by clicking the Molecular Lines tab in the top navigation bar. The application includes LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy), plasma spectroscopy, and the planetary exploration missions that apply these techniques. It might seem more like an engineering job rather then science research, but I think it is an infrastructure in science! It is still in development, I hope to integrate more database into it!

Interpret Marsian water history by Tianwen-1 data.

The Zhurong rover (a component of China’s Tianwen-1 mission) landed on Utopia Planitia, whose geological age is less than 1 billion year (within the Amazonian era). The data from SWIR (short-wave infrared) spectroscopy (analyzed by me) and LIBS (analyzed by coauthors) retrieved by the Zhurong rover demonstrated that there was limited water activities during the overall cold and dry Amazonian era. Check this if you are interested!

Simulate Lunar water-rock interactions with lab experiments.

I conducted laboratory experiments to simulate the water-rock interactions in lunar polar regions, which is crucial for future in-situ resource utilization. The experiments showed that hydrated minerals can be formed at relatively low temperatures, which provides important clues for the water activities on the Moon. This project has not finished but you can see my LPSC abstract here!

My Hobbies

Besides research, I’m also a performer! I was a member of the WashU Sensasians a cappella group and have performed in musicals like Groundhog Day. I’m also a language enthusiast and enjoy the challenge of Duolingo and the thrill of Geoguessr.