Sun, Laixiang

Bio

Laixiang Sun is a Professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences, UMD. He was previously a Chair Professor and the Head of Department at Department of Financial and Management Studies in SOAS University of London, and Senior Economist at International Institute for Applied System Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria. He was awarded the title “Fellow (Academician) of the Academy of Social Sciences” (www.acss.org.uk) in February 2010.  He has produced more than 230 research publications in regional sciences and regional economics, environmental sciences and management, business and management studies, integrated modelling, and ecological economics. He has been a principal investigator or leading scientist in more than 30 research projects sponsored by the European Commission; NASA in the USA; British Academy, Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Society, ESRC, EPSRC, Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), and Met Office in the UK; Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Natural Sciences Foundation, and Ministry of Education in China. He has taught more than 20 different courses in universities in China, the Netherlands, Finland, the UK, and the USA spanning from systems analysis, economics, econometrics, calculus to corporate governance, international business studies, and urban geography. The 2022 top scientists ranking for Economics and Finance published by Research.com ranked him 1,163 worldwide, 720 in the United States.

Degrees

  • Development Economics, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Hague, Netherlands, 1997 - Ph.D

  • Mathematics, Peking University, China, 1985 - MS

  • Mathematics, Peking University, China, 1982 - BS

Areas of Interest

  • Regional sciences and regional economics
  • Climate change mitigation and adaptation
  • Integrated modelling and applied systems analysis
  • spatial economics and econometrics
  • ecological economics and development economics
  • international business studies
  • Agricultural economics

Research Topics

  • Carbon, Vegetation Dynamics and Landscape-Scale Processes
  • Geospatial Information Science and Remote Sensing
  • Human Dimensions of Global Change - Coupled Human and Natural Systems
  • Land Cover - Land Use Change
  • Wu, X., J. Meng, X. Liang, L. Sun, D. Coffman, A. Kontoleon, D. Guan. 2025. “Technological Pathways for Cost-Effective Steel Decarbonization.” Nature (2024 IF: 48.5, 5 yr IF: 55.0), Vol. 647, pp. 93–101. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09658-9.

  • Tian, P., K. Feng, X. Chen, D. Li, M. Jiang, J. Li, H. Zheng, Y. Shan, L. Sun. “Consumption inequalities in material use undermining resources sustainability.” Nature Sustainability (2024 IF: 27.1, 5 yr IF: 32.8). in press.

  • Tian, Peipei, Kuishuang Feng, Laixiang Sun. 2025. “Levers for Equitable Material Use.” Policy Brief, Nature Sustainability (2024 IF: 27.1, 5 yr IF: 32.8). in press.

  • Fan, D., F. Xu, X. Jin, C. Song, P. Gao, L. Sun, D. Wang, K. Feng. 2025. “Stress‑testing the cascading economic impacts of urban flooding across 306 Chinese cities.” Nature Cities, in press.

  • Zheng, L., Z. Tian, S. Wang, S. Zhang, A. Chen, Y. Niu, Y. Guan, L. Sun. 2025. “Bridging the data gap: A new approach for reconstructing historic typhoon intensity using single station observations.” Monthly Weather Review (2024 IF: 3.0). Vol. 153, issue 11, pp. 2475-2489. https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-24-0261.1.

  • Li, D., L. Sun, K. Feng. N. Zhang, Y. Yu, D. Zhao, Y. Zhou. 2025. “Satellite imaging reveals disproportionate flood exposure in slum populations of the Global South.” Nature Cities, Vol. 2, pp. 626–638. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00273-3.

  • Zhang, P., X. Zhao, L. Sun, J. Zuo, W. Wei, X. Liu, X. Peng, Y. Shan, S. Li, L. Ge, J. Li, K. Feng. 2025. “What can we learn from the 2008 financial crisis for global power decarbonization after COVID-19?”  Fundamental Research (2024 IF: 5.7), Vol. 5, issue 3, pp. 1221-1232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fmre.2023.02.017.

  • Sun, Laixiang. 2025. “Bridging science and decision making with storyline-based approach.” Cell Reports Sustainability. 2 (1), 100304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100304.

  • Liu, B., K. Feng, L. Sun, G. Baiocchi, D. Wang, F. Miralles-Wilhelm. 2025. “Assessing virtual water trade and inequalities in household water footprints across California’s counties.” Structural Change and Economic Dynamics (2023 IF: 5.0). Vol. 74, pp. 175-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2025.02.008.

  • Funes, Jose, Jeffery Sauer, Laixiang Sun 2025. “Transit-Oriented Development and Effective Supply on the Tenant-occupied Multifamily Housing Market in Washington D.C.”  Spatial Economic Analysis (2022 IF = 2.3). Vol. 20, issue 2, pp. 291-311. https://doi.org/10.1080/17421772.2024.2346663.

  • Tian, P., H. Zhong, X. Chen, K. Feng, L. Sun, N. Zhang, X. Shao, Y. Liu, K. Hubacek. 2024. “Keeping the global consumption within planetary boundaries.” Nature (2024 IF: 48.5, 5 yr IF: 55.0). Vol. 635, pp. 625-630. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08154-w.

  • Zhong, H., Y. Li, J. Ding*, B. Bruckner*, K. Feng, L. Sun, C. Prell, Y. Shan, K. Hubacek. 2024. “Global spillover effects of the European Green Deal and plausible mitigation options.” Nature Sustainability (2024 IF: 27.1, 5 yr IF: 32.8). Vol. 7, pp. 1501–1511. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01428-1. 

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Personal Website(s)

Photo of Laixiang Sun

Laixiang Sun
Professor

| Room 1117 LeFrak

| lsun123@umd.edu

| (301) 405-8131

Accepting New Students  Yes

Media Availability  Yes