A geochemist by profession and a water and sanitation specialist by vocation, Yan Zheng began her career in 1988 with the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences as an environmental chemist after graduating with a B.Sc degree of geochemistry with honor from the University of Science and Technology of China. Between 1991 and 1998, she was a graduate student at Columbia University and obtained an M.A. degree in Geological Sciences, an M.Phil. and then a Ph.D. degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences. Since 1998, she held faculty appointments at the City University of New York and research positions at Columbia University, and was the Director of School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Queens College, City University of New York between 2007 and 2009. With her collaborators and students, she has published more than 100 peer reviewed articles in chemical oceanography, hydrogeochemistry and public health, with many discussing arsenic hydrogeochemistry and health effects in Bangladesh, China, and USA. She served for UNICEF Bangladesh between December 2009 and 2011 managing a water and environmental sanitation technology team. Currently she is a tenured Professor at the City University of New York, an adjunct senior research scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University where she leads the Community Engagement Core of the Columbia University's Superfund Research Program. She will soon launch privatewells.org. Dr. Zheng is a fellow of the Geological Society of America.