Zhen is a PhD student at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. She currently works on the experimental study of aerosol particle reactivity for geoengineering. She is broadly interested in climate and environmental issues. In the past she has managed clean water projects in Haiti and China. Prior to Harvard, Zhen earned an M.S. from UIUC in electrical engineering, and B.S./B.A. from Cornell University in Materials Science & Engineering and Chemistry.