Qilin Cao

Research interests

• Smart urban metabolism
• Global climate change
• Urban system resilience and just transitions

Education & experience

1. Sep 2026–present
   Dingxin Scholar · Postdoctoral researcher

   Jilin University
2. Sep 2021–Jun 2026
   Integrated master’s and doctoral program · PhD in Environmental Management and Economics

   College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University

   Doctoral supervisor: Professor Junnian Song
3. Sep 2017–Jun 2021
   BSc in Environmental Science and Engineering

   College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University

Selected publications

1. Expediting co-benefits of tailored municipal solid waste management strategies globally

   Qilin Cao, Junnian Song, Chaoshuo Liu, Wei Yang, Helmut Yabar, Heran Zheng, Zhifu Mi
   Nature Sustainability (2025), 8(10), 1164–1176. First author
   DOI 10.1038/s41893-025-01613-w

2. Evolving water, energy and carbon footprints in China’s food supply chain

   Qilin Cao, Junnian Song, Chaoshuo Liu, Wei Yang
   Journal of Cleaner Production (2023), 423, 138716. First author
   DOI 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138716

3. Human Health, Ecosystem Quality, and Resource Scarcity Burdens Inflicted by Livestock Production Across Chinese Regions

   Yixuan Shao, Qilin Cao, Junnian Song, Jiahao Xing, You Wu, Cheng Sun, Pan He, Wei Yang
   Earth’s Future (2025), 13(1), e2024EF005263. Co-first author
   DOI 10.1029/2024EF005263

4. Prospects and complexities in sustainability impacts of global residue-based bioenergy deployment

   Chaoshuo Liu, Junnian Song, Shiyu Deng, Jiahao Xing, Qilin Cao, Wei Yang, Jingzheng Ren
   Nature Communications (2026), 17, 11385.
   DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-78339-6

5. Synergizing resource recovery and net-zero emissions in China’s wastewater sector

   Wei Yang, Haoyuan Liu, Tianfu Yao, Qilin Cao, Wufei Zhang, Junnian Song
   Communications Earth & Environment (2026), 7, 320.
   DOI 10.1038/s43247-026-03346-w

6. Inequality-based compensation for environmental burden transfers in crop trade to promote responsible crop production and consumption

   Wei Yang, Chang Zhang, Mengmeng Zhou, Qilin Cao, Helmut Yabar, Junnian Song
   Journal of Cleaner Production (2026), 562, 148456.
   DOI 10.1016/j.jclepro.2026.148456

7. Informing atmospheric pollution hotspots and exposure risks under climate change using machine learning: Evidence from 2843 Chinese regions

   Ning Hao, Yuanyuan Zhao, Zhengyang Deng, Peixuan Sun, Jiapeng Liu, Qilin Cao, Wenjin Zhao
   Journal of Hazardous Materials (2026), 502, 141002.
   DOI 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.141002

8. Environmental footprints of global geothermal power: Bridging micro-level technological and macro-level national assessments

   Guangrui Liu, Junnian Song, Wufei Zhang, Qilin Cao, Wei Yang, Zhenjiao Jiang
   Energy Conversion and Management (2026), 349, 120853.
   DOI 10.1016/j.enconman.2025.120853

9. A Multi-Model Ensemble for Advanced Prediction of Reverse Osmosis Performance in Full-Scale Zero-Liquid Discharge Systems

   Haojie Ding, Ning Hao, Qilin Cao, Shengqiang Hei, Xu Zhong, Shuai Liang, Xia Huang
   Environmental Science & Technology (2025), 59(33), 17617–17627.
   DOI 10.1021/acs.est.5c06257

10. Modeling regional private income and its embedded carbon emissions: sources, flows and inequalities

    Runchuan Feng, Junnian Song, Qilin Cao, Heran Zheng, Weichen Zhong, Wei Yang
    Science of The Total Environment (2025), 960, 178361.
    DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178361

Research projects

• SustainCity-IAgent-Framework (open source)

  An agent-based framework for sustainable urban management decisions, initially applied to municipal solid waste management.

• olca2tidas (open source)

  An open-source tool that converts openLCA JSON-LD data to the Tiangong TIDAS/eILCD format.

• Co-benefits of tailored municipal solid waste management strategies worldwide (open research code)

  Reproducibility code for the global study of municipal solid waste management.

• Jilin Province Doctoral Research and Innovation Capacity Program (Science and Technology Track)

  Project lead. Completed.

• Jilin Province Three Lines and One Negative List Project

  Contributed to bid preparation and drafting.

• Jilin Province 14th Five-Year Plan for Energy Science and Technology Innovation

  Contributed to bid preparation and drafting.

• Carbon peaking plans for Dezhou, Qingdao, Siping, Songyuan, and other cities

  Contributed to bid preparation and drafting.

Honors & academic service

Honors and awards

• 2026 12th Tang Xiaoyan Environmental Science Innovation Award, Third Prize
• 2026 Potential Qingyuan Scholar, Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence (second cohort)
• 2025 China FAW Doctoral Scholarship, First Prize
• 2025 Top Ten Doctoral Students, College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University
• 2025 National Scholarship for Doctoral Students
• 2020 National Encouragement Scholarship for Undergraduates
• 2026 Nominee for Jilin University’s Top Ten Doctoral Students
• 2021–2026 Jilin University honors including Outstanding Graduate, Outstanding Graduate Student Leader, Outstanding Party Member Volunteer, First-Class Outstanding Graduate Student Scholarship, Academic Achievement Scholarship, Graduate Academic Scholarship, and Ludi Ershui Scholarship and Bursary
• 2017–2021 Honors including Outstanding Undergraduate Graduate, Outstanding Student Leader, Academic and Technology Award, and Outstanding Individual of the Youth League Committee at Jilin University, and Outstanding Intern at Changchun High-Tech Group

Academic exchange and community service

• Peer reviewer for SCI-indexed journals including the Journal of Industrial Ecology and the Journal of Cleaner Production
• Session chair at the 17th and 18th National Conferences for Doctoral Students in Environmental Science
• Outstanding participant, Urban Science and Sustainability Summer School (USS), Xiamen
• Member of the Tiangong Community

Contact

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