Xinning Zhang
Associate Professor of Geosciences and The High Meadows Environmental Institute · Natural Sciences Divisional Departments · Princeton University
Quick answer: Xinning Zhang is Associate Professor of Geosciences and The High Meadows Environmental Institute at Princeton University. Xinning Zhang shows an active PhD hiring signal as of 2026-09-11.
⭐ Opportunities for microbe lovers at both graduate and post-doc levels are available – please contact the PI for additional information. Update: The Zhang lab has an opening for one postdoctoral researcher in the area of terrestrial microbial biogeochemistry focusing on the global carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen budgets using laboratory and field measurements. The researcher is expected to be highly
Research interests
Microbial ecology and biogeochemistry; mechanisms by which microbes shape and are shaped by the changing environment; ecophysiological mechanisms constraining microbially-catalyzed biogeochemical transformations; methods from culture-based microbiology, molecular microbial ecology, biogeochemistry, and stable isotope geochemistry.
Selected publications (since 2023)
[2025] The role of nitrogenase isoform and carbon metabolism in biological nitrogen fixation and diazotrophic growth across a temperature gradient. K.E. *Luxem, A. *Nguyen, X. Zhang. Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
[2025] Global implications of a low soil moisture threshold for microbial hydrogen uptake. Linta Reji, M.B. Bertagni, F. Paulot, Q. Qin, X. Zhang. Nat. Commun., Dec 2025.
[2025] Distinct microbiomes underlie divergent responses of methane emissions from diverse wetland soils to oxygen shifts. L. *Reji, J. Duan, S. Myneni, X. Zhang. ISME Communications, Vol. 5.
[2025] Nitrogen stable isotope fractionation by biological nitrogen fixation reveals cellular nitrogenase is diffusion limited. E. *Han, S.H. Kopf, A.E. Maloney, X.E. Ai, D.M. Sigman, X. Zhang. PNAS Nexus, Vol. 4,
Frequently asked questions
Is Xinning Zhang hiring PhD students at Princeton University?
Yes. As of 2026-09-11, Xinning Zhang's faculty page shows a PhD hiring signal: Opportunities for microbe lovers at both graduate and post-doc levels are available – please contact the PI for additional information. Update: The Zhang lab has an opening for one postdoctoral resear.
What does Xinning Zhang research?
Microbial ecology and biogeochemistry; mechanisms by which microbes shape and are shaped by the changing environment; ecophysiological mechanisms constraining microbially-catalyzed biogeochemical transformations; methods from culture-based microbiology, molecular microbial ecology, biogeochemistry,
Data last updated: 2026-09-11 · Source: phd-match.com faculty database.
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