PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
Hydrogeology and Geochemistry
Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Adjunct Professor, Environmental Sciences
Adjunct Professor, Environmental Health
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
- Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
- M.Sc. University of Toronto
- B. Eng., Chengdu College of Geology
- Post-doctoral Fellowship, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Biographical Highlights
- Fellow, International Association of Geochemistry, 2025.
- Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge, UK, 2023-25 (part-time).
- (co) Executive Editor, Groundwater, 2022-2024.
- Visiting Sabbatical Professor, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), 2022.
- Henry Darcy Distinguished Lecturer, the Groundwater Foundation, 2021-2022. Click here for lecture titles (Darcy Lectures).
- Professeur Invité, Toulouse Paul-Sabatier University/French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), France, June-July, 2019.
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2017.
- Fellow, Mineralogical Society of America, 2016-present.
- Fulbright Scholarship to Norway, University of Oslo (2009).
- Research Fellow, Okayama University, Japan (2005, 2010).
- Guest Professor, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) - Zurich, Switzerland (2008).
- Sabbatical Professor, University of California - Berkeley (2008).
- The John Hem Excellence in Science and Engineering Award, National Ground Water Association (2006).
- Lilly Freshman Learning Project Fellow (teaching), Indiana University, 2006-
- Fellow, Geological Society of America, 2005-.
- Associate and Full Professor of Geological Sciences, Indiana University - Bloomington (2004-2011, 2011-, respectively).
- Guest Professor, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH)-Zurich, Switzerland (2004).
- Senior Associateship Award, National Research Council, the National Academy of Sciences (2003).
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Critical minerals, hydrogen and carbon dioxide storage, water resources, geothermal energy, and water-rock interaction.
Chen Zhu works at the intersection of geochemistry and hydrogeology. He studies water-rock interactions, a fundamental Earth process central to society’s needs for mineral resources, clean energy, and safe water. His research combines experiments, field work, and geochemical modeling to understand how minerals, water, gases, and microbes interact and how these interactions affect societal needs.
His current work advances three major themes:
Critical Minerals – Zhu and his collaborators investigate how rare earth elements and other critical minerals form and move in the Earth, providing insights for resource exploration and environmental assessment. He has also studied lithium resources and their environmental impacts.
Reaction Kinetics – Working with students and collaborators, Zhu advanced the isotope-doping methods to study near-equilibrium reaction kinetics, a long-standing challenge in geochemistry. This work has broad implications for carbon and hydrogen storage, geothermal energy, Earth history, and soil processes. Current projects examine how reactions are coupled in multi-mineral systems.
Water Resources – Zhu develops geochemical models that quantify how chemical reactions affect water availability and contamination in aquifers. Recently, he collaborates with computer and data scientists to integrate machine learning and data science with geochemical and hydrogeological modeling, opening new directions in predictive hydrogeochemistry.
Together, these efforts bridge geochemistry and hydrogeology, advancing both fundamental understanding and practical solutions for energy, water, and the environment.