Yang Jun is a Tenured Professor in the Department of Earth System Science at Tsinghua University. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the College of Forestry Resources and Environment at Beijing Forestry University in 1994, his Master’s degree from the College of Landscape Architecture at Beijing Forestry University in 1999, and his PhD from the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California, Berkeley in 2004. He previously worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (1994–1996), as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture at Temple University (2005–2009), and as a Professor at the School of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University (2009–2012). He joined Tsinghua University in 2013, where he successively served as tenure-track Associate Professor and later as Tenured Professor. During this period, he also undertook short-term visiting research at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

His research focuses on urban ecosystems in the context of global change, with main directions including the structure and function of urban ecosystems, urban biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being, as well as remote sensing and big data methods in urban ecological research. He has published the academic monograph Urban Forestry: Planning and Management (China Forestry Publishing House, 2012), and contributed chapters to international academic volumes such as Urban Landscapes in High-density Cities. He has led a number of major research projects, including General Program projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and projects under the National Key R&D Programme. He was selected for the Australian National University Leadership Scholarship Programme in 2011, and received recognition from the Xi-Sigma-Pi Forestry Honour Society (California Chapter) in 2001.