Dr. Ya-Qing Zhan

Climate Protection Manager working with citizens and local stakeholders to reduce CO₂ emissions and implement local climate action

2026-2027

Samtgemeinde Sittensen

Within the framework of the National Climate Initiative (NKI), I am developing a Municipal Climate Protection Concept, including a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, a potential analysis, and a catalogue of measures. A strong focus is placed on citizen participation and collaboration with local stakeholders to ensure effective and widely supported climate action

I volunteer as a project coordinator in the outreach team at the Public Climate School (PCS), which delivers accessible, science-based climate education across Germany. 

Since 2025

Public Climate School is a nationwide initiative that brings climate education into the public sphere. Through open lectures, workshops, and discussion formats, it connects science, education, and civil society to empower people to understand the climate crisis and take informed action for a sustainable future. 

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2022

Ya-Qing shares her experience as an international PhD candidate in Germany, and the focus of her research, which are the cultural responses to wind, monsoons and typhoons on the Penghu archipelago, Taiwan. Penghu is also called “Wind Island”, monsoon seasons influence both the landscape and the lifestyle of people on Penghu 

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Ya-Qing is also a writer with a strong interest in non-fiction novels. Her novel was funded by the Historical Novel Grant from Taiwan's Ministry of Culture in 2017 and won the Lanyang Literary Award in 2020

2020

This non-fiction novel transports readers to 1930s Taiwan during the Japanese colonial era, where the lives of two girls from the first generation of educated women unfold. Through their struggles with gender, identity, and colonialism, the story weaves a rich tapestry of history, told across two timelines interlinked by the shared landscape