Wenli Tang, Ph.D.

Tenure-track Assistant Professor

School of Environment

Nanjing University

Email: tangwenli@nju.edu.cn

ORCID: 0000-0003-0691-3604

Education

2013/09-2018/06 Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Environment, Nanjing University

2009/09-2013/06 Bachelor of Environmental Science, College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science & Technology

Professional Experience

2025/01 to current, tenure-track assistant professor, School of Environment, Nanjing University

2018/07-2024/12, assistant/associate researcher, School of Environment, Nanjing University

Research Interests

Mercury (Hg) biogeochemistry

The contamination of heavy metals in farmland and the associated health risks

Academic Service

1) Session Chair of Mercury Biogeochemistry, Biotransformation, and Planetary Health, SETAC 2024

2) Session Chair of Environmental Pollution and Human Health, ICEEH 2024

3) Secretary of Session Mercury and heavy metals, 17th ISPTS 2023

4) Review Editor of Frontiers in Marine Science

5) Mentor and Judge of the Grad Forum (2021) hosted by International Institute for Environmental Studies (IIES)

6) Session Chair of From field to fork: Mitigating human health risks from contaminated agricultural soils and products (Session 15) and Terrestrial ecotoxicology: Recent advances (Session 22)

7) Reviewer for Top journals, such as Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Science of the Total Environment, Environment Pollution, Chemosphere, etc.

Selected Publications

1) Wenli Tang#, Xu Bai#, Yang Zhou#, Christian Sonne*, Mengjie Wu, Su Shiung Lam, Holger Hintelmann, Carl P.J. Mitchell, Alexander Johs, Baohua Gu, Luís Nunes, Cun Liu, Naixian Feng, Sihai Yang, Jörg Rinklebe, Yan Lin, Long Chen, Yanxu Zhang, Yanan Yang, Jiaqi Wang, Shouying Li, Qingru Wu, Yong Sik Ok, Diandou Xu, Hong Li, Xu-Xiang Zhang, Hongqiang Ren, Guibin Jiang, Zhifang Chai, Jiating Zhao*, Yuxi Gao*, Huan Zhong*. A hidden demethylation pathway removes mercury from rice plants and mitigates mercury flux to food chains. Nature Food. 5 (2024), 72−82. ESI highly cited paper

2) Huan Zhong#*, Wenli Tang#, Zizhu Li#, Christian Sonne*, Su Shiung Lam, Xiao Zhang, Sae Yun Kwon, Jörg Rinklebe, Luís M. Nunes, Ri-Qing Yu, Baohua Gu, Holger Hintelmann, Martin Tsui, Jiating Zhao, Xin-Quan Zhou, Mengjie Wu, Long Chen*, Baogang Zhang, Wenfeng Tan, Xu-Xiang Zhang, Hongqiang Ren, Yu-Rong Liu*. Soil Geobacteraceae are the key predictors of neurotoxic methylmercury bioaccumulation in rice. Nature Food. 5 (2024), 301−311.

3) Wenli Tang, Holger Hintelmann, Baohua Gu, Xinbin Feng, Yurong Liu, Yuxi Gao, Jiating Zhao, Huike Zhu, Pei Lei, Huan Zhong*. Increased Methylmercury Accumulation in Rice after Straw Amendment. Environmental Science & Technology. 53 (2019), 6144−6153. Supplementary cover

4) Huan Zhong, Hangyu Zhou, Yanbin Li*, Chengjun Li, Martin Tsz-Ki Tsui, Carl P.J. Mitchell, Yang Zhou, Yanan Yang, Long Chen, Hongqiang Ren, Wenli Tang*. Methylmercury photodegradation in paddy water: An overlooked process mitigating methylmercury risks. Water Research. 253 (2024), 122332.

5) Wenli Tang, Huan Zhong*. Developing Methylmercury-Targeted Strategies to Safeguard Rice Consumers. Environment & Health. 2024.

6) Huan Zhong, Yao Su, Xinda Wu, Luís Nunes, Chengjun Li, Yunyun Hao, Yu-Rong Liu, Wenli Tang*. Mercury supply limits methylmercury production in paddy soils. Science of the Total Environment. 927 (2024), 172335.

7) Yang Zhou, Shouying Li, Holger Hintelmann, Wenli Tang*, Huan Zhong*. New insights into Hg-Se antagonism: Minor impact on inorganic Hg mobility while potential impacts on microorganisms. Science of the Total Environment. 913 (2024), 169705.

8) Wenli Tang, Junru Chu, Huan Zhong*. Alkaline extraction: An optimal approach for extracting methylmercury from paddy soils. Science of The Total Environment, 885 (2023). 163776.

9) Wenli Tang*, Chao Tang, Pei Lei*. Sulfur-driven methylmercury production in paddies continues following soil oxidation. Journal of Environmental Sciences. 119 (2022), 166-174.

10) Yao Su, Raymond W.M. Kwong, Wenli Tang*, Yanan Yang, Huan Zhong*. Straw return enhances the risks of metals in soil? Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. 207 (2021), 111201.

Patents

Wenli Tang, Yanan Yang, Huan Zhong, Pei Lei. A device for measuring the flux and speciation of mercury released from plants. Issued on Feb. 11, 2022, China, ZL202121028138.4

Awards

1) Silver Pen Editor Award issued by Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (Springer Nature), 2020

2) Outstanding Student Oral Presentation, 2018 SETAC AP, 2018

3) National Scholarship for PhD candidate, 2017

Opportunities

Have you ever wondered how pollutants make their way from the environment to our dining tables, then enter our bodies and finally show health impacts?

Do you harbor a fervent passion for exploration and the daring spirit to confront the unknown?

Come and join our lab! You are the very partner we've been looking for!