Jizhong Zhou is a distinguished research and development staff scientist in microbial genomics and ecology in the Environmental Sciences Division of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He was inducted as a Fellow June 8 in Atlanta during the 105th General Meeting of the American Society of Microbiology.
His research has concentrated on pioneering advances and leadership in developing genomics technologies that can aid in the research challenges of such areas as bioremediation, global changes and carbon.
Fellows are elected through a highly selective, annual peer-reviewed process based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced the study of microbiology.
The American Academy of Microbiology is the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology, which is the world's oldest life science organization and the only group of its kind devoted entirely to microbiologists and the science of microbiology.
Zhou has earned numerous awards and honors during his career, including a 2001 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. He also earned ORNL's 2001 Environmental Sciences Division Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award.
He earned a bachelor's degree in plant pathology and entomology, along with a master's in mathematical ecology, from China's Hunan Agricultural University. He earned a doctorate in molecular biology from Washington State University.
Zhou and his wife, Cindy Shi, who is a financial officer in ORNL's Life Sciences Division, are residents of Oak Ridge. They have a daughter, Elizabeth, who is a student at Washington University in St. Louis, and a son, Benjamin, who attends Oak Ridge's Jefferson Middle School.
ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy.