Tenured associate Prof. Zhao received her PhD in Ecology from Beijing Forestry University (China). She obtained her postdoctoral training at Aalto University (Finland), with visiting stints at Technical University of Munich (Germany) and University of Maryland at College Park (USA). Using methodological innovation as a starting point, her research topic is focused on water footprint, water scarcity assessment, and the water-energy-food-land nexus under the changing natural-social systems.

She has published over 40 academic articles and 4 sets of high-resolution water footprint datasets, including more than 20 SCI papers, 12 papers in Q1 journals, and 4 pieces in Science Bulletin (Chinese and English versions). I have published 12 papers as first or corresponding author, including 2 papers in Water Research, 1 paper in Science Bulletin (English), 1 paper in Resources Conservation & Recycling, 1 paper in Sustainable Cities and Society, and 3 papers in Journal of Cleaner Production. She also published one academic book as second author, titled <Theory and Method of Water Resources Evaluation in Natural-Social Systems>. One paper is chosen as the cover piece for Science Bulletin, and another is awarded as the "Most Influential Paper in 2010-2019" by Acta Ecologica Sinica. Prof. Zhao hosted one NSFC Young research project (50000$) and European University cooperation project (6000$), she also served as an associate editor in NPJ clean water and subject editor for the journal Energy, Ecology, and Environment, as well as a young editorial board member for the journals The Innovation and Carbon Neutrality.