Dr. Yan Zhang has been engaged in the research field of urban metabolism for nearly 20 years, and is one of the top 2% top scientists in ecology and environment in the world. According to Web of Science core database search on urban metabolism topic, Dr. Yan Zhang is ranked first in the world. Her relevant achievements have won the Second Prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award, China, in 2012, the Second Prize of Natural Science Award, China, in 2016 and the first prize of Outstanding Scientific Research Achievement Award (Science and Technology) in Institutions of Higher Learning of Ministry of Education, China, in 2009 and 2004. Due to her academic achievements in the field of urban metabolism research, she has been selected into the "New Century Excellent Talent Support Program" of the Ministry of Education, China, in 2012. She was a Chinese expert in urban ecology for World Bank’s technical assistance projects, a project associate expert of Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, a project appraisal expert of the Kazakhstan National Center of Science and Technology Evaluation and the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR). She has presided over and participated in more than 20 projects at the national and provincial levels. She is the project leader of the National Key Research and Development Program and the leader of the urban ecology direction of the National Innovation Research Group. Besides, she has participated in the compilation of 4 monographs and textbooks and published nearly 200 domestic and foreign journal papers.