Born in China, Jing Shi received her early education there, and left home to attend high school in Singapore. She was interested a range of subjects in science and had a hard time choosing her major when she started college at Caltech. In the end, she decided to study physics and learn about theories that could explain the world at tremendously different scales, from the universe to atoms. She is currently at Harvard working on 2D (as opposed to 3D) materials, where quantum effects are dominant. One of these materials is graphene, which is a single sheet of carbon atoms isolated from bulk graphite. Because graphene is so thin, its electrons move differently from normal electrons and go in and out of a special insulating state. Electrons in these different states give very different resistance on the sample when measured at a low temperature. Jing studies the interplay of electronic properties from different systems, such as between graphene and a superconductor, to better understand why materials behave in certain ways under certain conditions.

My Scientific Name is a children's picture storybook developed in collaboration with female and minority scientists across many science fields. Each book is personalized using the letters of their name as a way of introducing them to many different STEM careers.