Profile

Jixin Qiao's research is centered on development of radiochemical methods and automation techniques for determining difficult-to-measure radionuclides, and the application of anthropogenic radiotracers in environmental and oceanic studies. Her major contribution to science includes: 1) Development of automated radioanalytical apparatus based on advanced flow techniques; She is among a few scientists who independently explore flow techniques, design and assembly of flow-based setups for automated radioassay. 2) Method development for determining low-level radionuclides in various environmental and waste samples based on advanced mass spectrometric techniques; She has developed a number of rapid analytical methods for the determination of anthropogenic radionuclides which are generally complicated to determine in environmental, biological and radioactive wastes samples. 3) Pioneering oceanic tracer application using anthropogenic uranium isotopes (²³³U and ²³⁶U) for tracing ocean circulation and pollutant dynamics; She developed a sensitive method and quality control system for ultra-low levels of ²³³U and ²³⁶U measurement in environmental samples. She carried out the first ²³³U-²³⁶U oceanic tracer study in the Baltic Sea and Arctic Ocean, discovered unknown radioactive releases in the Baltic Sea using multiple radiotracer (¹²⁹I-²³³U-²³⁶U) approach. 4) Application of natural and anthropogenic radioisotopes for environmental tracer studies including soil erosion, geological dating, pollutant transport, carbon cycling and climate change.

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Curriculum

• more than 20 years of expertise in the field of Nuclear and Radioanalytical Chemistry, Radioecology and Tracer Studies as well as Speciation Analysis with research focuses on:
• Method development for determination of artificial and natural radionuclides (^135,137Cs, ^{233,234,235,236,238}U, ⁹⁹Tc, ²³⁷Np, ²⁴¹Am, ²⁴³Cm, ^{238,239,240,241}Pu, ^232,234Th, ²¹⁰Po, ²¹⁰Pb, ⁹³Mo, ⁹⁴Nb, ⁹³Zr, ⁹⁰Sr, ^226,228Ra) in environmental, biological and radioactive waste assays and their application in radioecology studies
• Application of flow techniques (flow injection, sequential injection, lab-on-valve bead injection), design and assembly of flow analysis setups for rapid and automated determination of radionuclides
• Application of mass spectrometry techniques in low-level radioactivity analysis
• Speciation analysis for radionuclide and trace elements (¹³⁷Cs, ^127,129I, ⁹⁹Tc and isotopes of Pu, Th, U)
• Environmental and food radioactivity monitoring in Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands
• Radioecology and tracer studies using anthropogenic radionuclides (^233,236U, ^135,137Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, ⁹⁹Tc, ¹²⁹I, ^238,239,240Pu, ²⁴¹Am) in marine and terrestrial environment
• Tracing environmental processes using radioisotopes, with the successful establishment of international cooperation. This includes tracing ocean current circulation, carbon cycling, climate change, sedimentation processes in coastal regions, pollutants (such as microplastics, etc.) migration, soil erosion, atmospheric transport and source identification of airborne contaminants.
• Leader of 10 International and 5 Danish research projects, investigator of 10 Danish/International research projects since 2014 with a total funding of 20 million DKK.
• Author of nearly 70 peer-reviewed SCI publications, 7 book chapters/reports and 35 conference contributions including 9 invited talks.
• Web of Science H-index 21, citations 1061; Google Scholar H-index 22, citations 1359 [Mar. 2024].
• Guest editor of Frontier of Marine Science and Molecules. Reviewer of nearly 40 peer-reviewed SCI journals.
• Supervisor of 5 Postdocs, 5 PhD and 1 master students, co-supervisor of 2 Postdocs, 10 PhD and 2 Master students.
• Member of radioactivity expert group in HELOCM, AMAP and OSPAR.
• Long-term collaboration with more than 30 renowned international universities/institutes, e.g., University of Vienna, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN), University of Oxford, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW), European Commission (EU), Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Institute of Maine Research, Norway (IMR).