PhD, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington – 2020

As a computational hydrologist, my research interest lies in developing and improving advanced hydrologic models and regional climate models to better predict climate impacts on hydrology and water-related sectors, such as aquatic ecosystem and electric power system. I am also interested in collaborating with social scientists and local communities to reflect their priorities in numerical models and further enhance the salience, tangibility, and usability of model products. 

• GLY 606 – Water Data Analysis & Modeling

• Please contact Dr. Cheng for PhD and MS opportunities commencing in fall 2025. More details can can be found on a.c.t. hydro website.

Blaskey, D., M. Gooseff, Y. Cheng, A. Newman, J. Koch, and K. Musselman, 2024. A high‐resolution, daily hindcast (1990–2021) of Alaskan river discharge and temperature from coupled and optimized physical models. Water Resources Research, doi:10.1029/2023WR036217

Herman‐Mercer, N., A. Andre, V. Buschman, D. Blaskey, C. Brooks, Y. Cheng, ..., and K. Musselman, 2023: The Arctic Rivers Project: Using an Equitable Co‐Production Framework for Integrating Meaningful Community Engagement and Science to Understand Climate Impacts. Community Science, doi:10.1029/2022CSJ000024

Blaskey, D., J. Koch, M. Gooseff, A. Newman, Y. Cheng, J. O'Donnell, and K. Musselman, 2023: Increasing Alaskan river discharge during the cold season is driven by recent warming. Environmental Research Letters, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/acb661

Cheng, Y., K. Musselman, S. Swenson, D. Lawrence, J. Hamman, K. Dagon, D. Kennedy, and A. Newman, 2023: Moving land models towards more actionable science: A novel application of the Community Terrestrial Systems Model across Alaska and the Yukon River Basin. Water Resources Research, doi:10.1029/2022WR032204

Bennett, A., A. Stein, Y. Cheng, B. Nijssen, and M. McGuire, 2022: A process-conditioned and spatially consistent method for reducing systematic biases in modeled streamflow. Journal of Hydrometeorology, doi:10.1175/JHM-D-21-0174.1

Cheng, Y., B. Nijssen, G. Holtgrieve, and J. Olden, 2022: Modeling the freshwater ecological response to changes in flow and thermal regimes influenced by reservoir dynamics. Journal of Hydrology, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.127591

Fonseca, F., M. Craig, P. Jaramillo, M. Bergés, E. Severnini, A. Loew, H. Zhai, Y. Cheng, B. Nijssen, N. Voisin, and J. Yearsley, 2021: Climate-induced tradeoffs in planning and operating costs of a regional electricity system. Environmental Science and Technology, doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c01334

Fonseca, F., M. Craig, P. Jaramillo, M. Bergés, E. Severnini, A. Loew, H. Zhai, Y. Cheng, B. Nijssen, N. Voisin, and J. Yearsley, 2021: Effects of Climate Change on Capacity Expansion Decisions of an Electricity Generation Fleet in the Southeast U.S. Environmental Science and Technology, doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c06547

Loew, A., P. Jaramillo, H. Zhai, R. Ali, B. Nijssen, Y. Cheng, and K. Klima, 2020: Fossil Fuel-fired Power Plant Operations Under a Changing Climate. Climatic Change, doi:10.1007/s10584-020-02834-y

Cheng, Y., N. Voisin, J. Yearsley, and B. Nijssen, 2020: Reservoirs modify river thermal regime sensitivity to climate change: a case study in the southeastern United States. Water Resources Research, doi:10.1029/2019WR025784

Cheng, Y., N. Voisin, J. Yearsley, and B. Nijssen, 2020: Thermal extremes in regulated river systems under climate change: an application to southeastern U.S. rivers. Environmental Research Letters, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab8f5f

Niemeyer, R., Y. Cheng, Y. Mao, J. Yearsley, and B. Nijssen, 2018: A thermally stratified reservoir module for large‐scale distributed stream temperature models with application in the Tennessee River Basin. Water Resources Research, doi:10.1029/2018WR022615