An internationally renowned scholar and an expert in the areas of plant stress physiology and water-saving cultivation of field crops, Professor Zhang was selected by prestigious scientific journal Nature as one of the “Five crop researchers who could change the world” in December 2008 for his research focusing primarily on water-saving irrigation in China.
Professor Zhang’s achievements have been widely recognized through several awards including the State Natural Science Award and the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award from the State Council of China. He has published extensively with over 22,000 citations and h-index at 83. Currently he serves as Associate Editor and Monitoring Editor for a number of top plant science and agriculture journals such as Journal of Experimental Botany and Plant Physiology.