OU Researcher recognized for exceptional scientific leadership

University of Oklahoma researcher Jizhong (Joe) Zhou, director of the OU Institute for Environmental Genomics, was presented the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Southeastern Universities Research Association at its annual meeting on July 24, 2024. This award recognizes researchers whose extraordinary work fulfills the SURA mission to “advance collaborative research and strengthen the scientific capabilities of its members and the nation.”

Zhou’s extensive body of research includes work in microbiology, environmental sciences and theoretical ecology. He has pioneered advances in experimental and computational metagenomic technologies aimed at addressing ecological and environmental questions. His work in the elucidation and modeling of microbial feedback mechanisms in response to climate change is groundbreaking.

“Dr. Zhou’s recognition by SURA with the Distinguished Scientist Award underscores the profound impact of his transformative research,” said OU Vice President for Research and Partnerships Dr. Tomás Díaz de la Rubia. “Whether genomics, microbial ecology or bioinformatics, the results produced by Dr. Zhou’s research exemplify the excellence and innovation being pursued at the University of Oklahoma.” 

Zhou is recognized as one of the leading scientists in both fields of Microbiology, and Ecology & Evolution. He ranks among the top 0.1% of the world’s most highly cited researchers and is the only microbiologist among the 2021 Reuters List of World’s Top 1000 Climate Scientists. Furthermore, he was ranked among the top #30 scientists worldwide and the top #14 across the U.S. in ecology and evolution by research.com.

Throughout his career, Zhou has been awarded various prestigious awards, including the ISME-IWA BioCluster Grand Prize Award for recognizing the importance and impact of interdisciplinary research at the interface of microbial ecology and water/wastewater treatment in 2022, the 2022 Soil Science Research Award for recognizing outstanding research contributions in soil science, the 2019 ASM Award for Environmental Research for recognizing an outstanding scientist with distinguished research achievements in microbial ecology and environmental microbiology, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award in 2014 – DOE’s scientific award established by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1959, R&D 100 Award in 2009 as one of 100 most innovative scientific and technological breakthroughs, and Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2001 – the highest honor for young scientists and engineers in US.

Furthermore, he mentors a myriad of students, postdocs and visiting scientists, and has established the Cindy and Jizhong Zhou Graduate Student/Post-doctorate Travel Award in Environmental Science and Technology Fellowship at the University of Oklahoma. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a foreign member of Academia Europaea, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, Ecological Society of Ecology, International Water Association, Soil Science Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He is a George Lynn Cross Research Professor and Presidential Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences. He holds positions in the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and the School of Computer Science, both in the Gallogly College of Engineering, and he is a Visting Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory.

Learn more about Zhou’s research with the Institute for Environmental Genomics at ou.edu/ieg.

About the award

The Southeastern Universities Research Association is a consortium of fifty-seven member universities that fosters collaborations that enhance members’ capabilities of undertaking significant, transformative scientific research projects that no single institution can handle independently. The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility is managed by Jefferson Science Associates, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of SURA, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.