I was born in Jingxian China, where the local people made the best paper for traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy for more than a thousand years. After getting a master degree in Archaeometry from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) I worked in Graduate School of USTC for several years. At present, I study and live in Pocatello, Idaho. I am married and have two daughters.

Current research and interests

1. Application of Photon Activation Analysis (PAA) in archaeological, biological, environmental samples and NIST standards
2. Principles and calculations in activation analysis (including PAA, NAA, XRF, PIXE)
3. Simulations of photonuclear reactions via Geant4 and MCNPX
4. Computer software for activation analysis;
5. Isotope production with photonuclear reactions

Selected Publications and Presentations

•Z. J. Sun, D. Wells, C. Segebade, J. Green, “Web-based Spectrum Analysis Software for Photon Activation Analysis”, Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, DOI 10.1007/s10967-011-1209-5.

•Z. J. Sun, C. Segebade, D. Wells, H. Maschner, B. Benson, “Determination of Trace Elements in Coffee by Photon Activation Analysis”, AccApp '11 - Tenth International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Applications of Accelerators, Contributed talk, presented at Knoxville, TN. April 3-7, 2011.

•Z. J. Sun, D. Wells, C. Segebade, J. Green, “An Online Analysis System for Photon Activation Analysis”, 13th International Conference on Modern Trends in Activation Analysis, Contributed talk, presented at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, March 13-18, 2011.

•Z. J. Sun, D. Wells, C. Segebade, J. Green, “Standardizing Activation Analysis: New Software for Photon Activation Analysis”, APPLICATION OF ACCELERATORS IN RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY: 21st International Conference. Contributed talk, Presented at CAARI 2010, Fort Worth, TX, August 8 – 14, 2010. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1336, pp 473-478 (2011).

•J. Green, Z.  Sun, D. Wells, H. Maschner, B. Benson, “Using Photon Activation Analysis to Determine Concentrations of Unknown Component in Reference Materials”, APPLICATION OF ACCELERATORS IN RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY: 21st International Conference. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1336, pp 497-501 (2011).

•J. Green, D. Wells, B. Benson, Z.  Sun, H. Maschner, “A Priori Method of Using Photon Activation Analysis to Determine Unknown Trace Element Concentrations in NIST Standards”, APPLICATION OF ACCELERATORS IN RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY: 20th International Conference. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1099, pp. 919-923 (2009).

• H. Maschner, B. Benson, D. Wells, J. Green, Z. Sun, C. Segebade, “Photon Activation Analysis in Archaeology”, invited talk (presented by H. Maschner), Presented at CAARI 2008, Fort Worth, TX, August 10 – 15, 2008

• Wang Changsui, Sun Zaijing, “Preliminary Research on Provenance of Big-Mouth-Zuns of Dawenkou Culture”, Archaeology (Chinese), No 8, 2000

•Xu Anwu, Yang Xiaoyong, Sun Zaijing, “Study on Dushan Jade from Nanyang Area in Henan by PIXE”, Nuclear Techniques, Vol. 22, Sept. 1999