Zhi (George) Zhou

Assistant Professor of Environmental and Ecological Engineering and Civil Engineering

Zhi (George) Zhou received his Ph.D. degree in environmental science in civil engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007. He obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental science from Nanjing University in 1999 and 2002, respectively.

Before joining Purdue, Zhou was an assistant professor of environmental engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he taught wastewater microbiology, topics in environmental biotechnology, environmental engineering principles, and design projects. Before joining NUS, he was a consulting engineer at Carollo Engineers in California and conducted various consulting projects on UV disinfection, emerging contaminant removal in membrane-based wastewater treatment plants, and cost analysis of water reuse.

Zhou’s research focuses on environmental microbiology and the application of biotechnologies in engineering systems. His recent projects include development of molecular microbiology techniques to evaluate antibiotic-resistant bacteria in natural and urban environments, production of cost-effective biofuels, nanomaterials for water purification, and indirect and direct potable reuse. More information can be found at his website: Environmental Biotechnology.