Shizhen Zhao attended the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2026 Meeting, held in Atlanta, USA, from March 22 to 26, 2026. She was invited to deliver a presentation in the ES&T Award Session: James J. Morgan Early Career Lectureship on March 23, 2026.

During the session, she presented her recent work on tire wear particles (TWPs) and associated chemicals in the urban atmosphere, highlighting their environmental behavior and implications. The presentation stimulated in-depth discussions with researchers working on TWPs and tire-related chemicals (TWCs). The session was chaired by Bryan Brooks, Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Science & Technology Letters, who kindly invited participants for further informal discussions after the session.

At the conference, she had the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with many leading scientists, including Zhenyu Tian, who first identified 6PPD-quinone. They engaged in detailed discussions on the environmental occurrence and transformation of TWPs and TWCs. In addition, she established new connections with researchers from North America, further expanding her international academic network.

During her visit, she also toured the laboratory of Douglas Walker at Emory University, guided by Dr. Kuangliang Shao. The lab is very rich and exceptionally well equipped, with seven high-resolution mass spectrometers, which was truly impressive.

Beyond academic activities, she visited The Coca-Cola Company and the Georgia Aquarium, gaining a deeper appreciation of Atlanta’s culture and landmarks. This trip marked her first visit to the United States and her first participation in an American Chemical Society meeting, and she was very lucky to have obtained her visa smoothly.