The International CLIVAR Project Office (ICPO), hosted by the Ocean University of China and Laoshan Laboratory in Qingdao, China, warmly welcomes Dr. John Zhang as its new director. John is joining the ICPO team, which includes staff scientists Joana Gonzalez and Di Zhang, along with administrative assistant Yang Zhao, beginning this June 2026. 

Dr. Zhang brings a rich educational background in atmospheric and ocean sciences, holding a B.Sc. from Peking University, an M.Sc. from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a Ph.D. from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program.  Prior to joining the ICPO, John spent over 20 years in the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where he served as a supervisory oceanographer over the past decade. John’s research areas span diverse scales from microphysics (mixing and dispersion processes) to global climate change, using data from both in-situ and remote sensing observation and modeling. He has authored and coauthored more than 70 peer-reviewed papers with more than 10,000 peer-reviewed citations, with publications in Science, Nature, J. Climate, Int’l J. Climatology, Global Planetary Change, BAMS, JGR, GRL, etc... Beyond his research, John has been an active contributor to the scientific community through service on numerous committees and working groups, including the AMS Air-Sea Interaction Committee, WCRP GEWEX Sea Flux WG, and as Chair for the WMO/IOC Ship Observations Team. 

Dr. Zhang is eager to serve the CLIVAR community to fulfill the CLIVAR mission goals, including utilizing the best talents and ideas for a new CLIVAR strategic science plan.

We wish him every success and a truly rewarding experience as he leads the ICPO in supporting CLIVAR’s goals.