Xingjian (Ken) Yan
Bio
I am a third-year PhD student in Atmosphere Science at the EAPS department of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, advised by Talia Tamarin-Brodsky. My second generals advisor is Sai Ravela. My office is at 54-1623A. I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the Courant Institute of New York University. I also received a minor in French Studies from NYU College of Art and Science. I am originally from Shanghai, China.
I am interested in climate and atmospheric dynamics with mathematical approaches. I appreciate methodologies in applied mathematics and (geophysical) fluid dynamics via both numerical PDE and data-driven AI perspectives. I’m particularly interested in predicting extreme events on the S2S timescale, which is also on the edge between weather and climate. I have investigated in atmospheric blockings, extreme precipitation and tsunami waves, and I’m open to learn more, especially on how such hazardous events evolve under global warming and anthropogenic forcings.
Currently, I’m working on 2 projects:
Atmospheric blocking events - Quasi-stationarity, linkage to Rossby wave breakings, and an extension to the PV tendency framework.
See my talks at AGU 2026, San Francisco, CA & AMS AOFD 2026, Houston, TX!
ML Downscaling Methods for Extreme Precipitation in Puerto Rico, and their changes with climate.
See my talks at AGU 2026, San Francisco, CA & AGU 2025, New Orleans, LA!
Scientists and academicians: You can view my CV here.
I’m open to future fellowship opportunities. I am generously supported by the Thomas C. Desmond fellowship (2025 - 2026) and the Lester Wolfe Fellowship (2026 - 2027).
HR and headhunters: You can view my One-Page Resume here (Mandarin Chinese Version).
Post-graduation, I am interested in industrial positions of (but not limited to): quantitative research in quantitative finance (energy / commodity trading / cat bonds); AI for weather, climate, or general fluid dynamics; consulting in climate and sustainable finance.
Fun facts:
My research is featured on a BBC radio show! Check it out here (approx. at 23’30’’).
I am the manager of the MIT WxChallenge team, and we compete in a collegiate weather forecast tournament. We just won a team championship (2024-25)! My usr_id == eggtrt (2024/25), mndrin (2025/26), pockyy (2026/27). You can find some useful plots here (experimental).
Charlie and I are generously supported by the MIT sandbox program for some crazy start-up ideas. Stay tuned!
I represented NYU Shanghai in a nationwide Hearthstone tournament in China in 2021, and still am an active, top 0.5% ranked Hearthstone Battleground player. You can find my US ranking at the official learderboard for id = hirondelle (season 8), (season 9), (season 10), (season 11). Or you can find my rankings here.
My gym hours sit between 11pm to 2am.
I’m also a level 10 Chinese bamboo flute performer.
I used to compete in high school varsity level American football and swimming and diving.
A quick note on mental well-being:
Hey my friendly visitor(s): just fyi we are living in a beautiful world, and everyone deserves to appreciate such beauty, including you. Hope you are having a good time here!
No matter where, and no matter when, if you are feeling down/broken, or just having a few screws loosened, please don’t hesitate to reach out to anyone whom you trust for help.
There’s also support available from the 988 center (and MIT mental health for MIT affiliates).
Last Updated: October 2026