Research Interest

I have strong interests to do an interdisciplinary research in oceanography field towards understanding the physical processes on estuarine and coastal environments, which are highly influenced by human activities.

During my Ph.D. dissertation, I used  both statistical (regression) and numerical models (ROMS) to study the influence of anthropogenic and climate factors on the hypoxic area variability in the Gulf of Mexico. I found that the increased hypoxic area in the Gulf of Mexico was caused by the increased anthropogenic nitrogen loading of the Mississippi River; however, the nitrogen-area relationship is complicated by many other factors, especially wind. The upwelling favorable wind is important for hypoxic area development. However, a long duration of upwelling wind decreases the area. 

Right now, I am working with Marjy Friedrichs (VIMS) and John Wilkin (Rutgers) towards developing coupled physical-biogeochemical model to understand the role of estuaries in global carbon cycle. 

Education Background

Ph.D. Texas A&M University, College Station.

M.S. Ocean University of China

B.A. Ocean University of China

Research and Teaching Experiences

Fall 2011 - Now, Postdoc Research Associate, Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, College of William and Mary, U.S.. Major co-worker: Marjy Friedriches

Spring 2011, Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, U.S. Course: Introductory oceanography laboratory for undergraduates.

Fall 2006 – Fall 2010, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, U.S. Advisor: Dr. George A. Jackson and Dr. Steven F. DiMarco. 

Fall 2003 – Spring 2006, Graduate Research Assistant, College of Physical and Environmental Oceanography, Ocean University of China, China, Advisor: Dr Ruixin Huang (WHOI) and Dr. Wei Wang

Publications

Feng, Y. (2012), Statistical and realistic numerical model investigations of anthropogenic and climatic factors that influence hypoxic area variability in the Gulf of Mexico, PhD dissertation, Dep. of Oceanogr., Tex. A&M Univ., College Station.

Feng, Y., S. F. DiMarco, and G. A. Jackson (2012), Relative role of wind forcing and riverine nutrient input on the extent of hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L09601, doi:10.1029/2012GL051192.

Fennel, K., Hetland, R., Feng, Y., DiMarco, S. (2011), A coupled physical-biological model of the Northern Gulf of Mexico shelf: Model description, validation and analysis of phytoplankton variability, Biogeosciences 8, 1881-1899, doi:10.5194/bg-8-1881-2011

Feng, Y., W. Wang, and R. X. Huang, (2006), Meso-scale available gravitational potential energy in the world oceans, Acta. Oceanol. Sin., 25(5) 1-13

 

 

Conferences Posters and Oral Presentations

Feng, Y., George, J. A., DiMarco, S. F., Hetland, R., Fennel, K., Friedrichs, M. A. M, Understanding Hypoxic Area Variability in the northern Gulf of Mexico From a Three-Dimensional Coupled Physical-Biogeochemical Model, February 2012, Ocean Sciences Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT (Oral Presentation)

Feng, Y., S. F. DiMarco, G. A. Jackson, K. Fennel, and R. D. Hetland, Understanding the relative role of wind and nutrient forcing of the northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxia using statistical and a coupled numerical model, February 2011, Aquatic Sciences Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico (Oral Presentation)

Feng, Y., G. A. Jackson, S. F. DiMarco, K. Fennel, and R. D. Hetland, Beyond the story of nitrogen, why was the area of hypoxia off the Mississippi river smaller than the prediction in 2009? February 2010, Ocean Sciences Meeting, Portland, OR (Poster Presentation)


Feng, Y., G. A. Jackson, S. F. DiMarco, K. Fennel, and R. D. Hetland, The effect of freshwater inputs on area of hypoxic region off Louisiana, November 2009, CERF 2009 Conference in Portland, Portland, OR (Poster Presentation)


Feng, Y., S. F. DiMarco and P. Chapman, Metrics for classifying the biogeochemical process zones of the coastal Louisiana hypoxic region, March 2008, Ocean Sciences Meeting, Orlando, FL (Poster presentation)