Dr. Chunmiao Zheng, Chair Professor of Water Resources in the College of Engineering and Director of the Center for Water Research at Peking University, has been named the 2013 recipient of the O.E. Meinzer Award by the Geological Society of America. Dr. Zheng has also been awarded the 2013 M. King Hubbert Award by the National Ground Water Association in the United States. “It is quite an achievement to receive both of these awards in a lifetime – let alone in the same year!” said Professor Mary Anderson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and Dr. Zheng’s Ph.D. advisor. Dr. Zheng will accept the awards at the annual meetings of the Geological Society of America and National Ground Water Association, respectively, later this year.

The O. E. Meinzer Award is given annually to the author or authors of a publication or a body of publications that have significantly advanced the science of hydrogeology or a closely related field. The O. E. Meinzer Award has been considered the highest distinction for hydrogeologists internationally since its inception in 1965. The M. King Hubbert Award honors the scientist who has made a major contribution to the groundwater industry through research, publications, teaching, or practical applications. These two awards are the latest in a long list of honors for Dr. Zheng, which include the John Hem Excellence in Science and Engineering Award from the National Ground Water Association (1998), the elected fellowship in the Geological Society of America (1999), and the Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lectureship for the Hydrogeology Division of the Geological Society of America (2009).

Dr. Zheng is the author of numerous heavily cited papers, books and solute transport models that represent many areas of the hydrogeology field, including aquifer remediation design, contaminant degradation process simulation, monitoring network design, solute mass transfer in the geological media, and groundwater-surface water interactions. His books on applied contaminant transport modeling, co-written with Gordon Bennett, are used in classes and as reference books throughout the world. One of Zheng’s most prolific practical contributions to the field of hydrogeology is the versatile MT3D solute transport code, which is among the most widely used transport models in the world. Since he created it, he has extended the capabilities of MT3D to simulate multispecies reactive transport and that model — MT3DMS — has become increasingly popular as well. He regularly teaches short courses throughout the world on the foundations and use of MT3D and MT3DMS.

Dr. Zheng earned his bachelor’s degree in geology from Chengdu University of Technology (formerly Chengdu Institute of Geology) in China and his doctorate in hydrogeology with a minor in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Zheng joined the Department of Geological Sciences of the University of Alabama as an assistant professor in 1993 and became a full professor with tenure in 2002. In 2010 he was named the George Lindahl III Endowed Professor of Hydrogeology by the trustees of the University of Alabama in recognition of his outstanding achievements.

Starting in 2006, Dr. Zheng was recruited to return part-time to China to work on water and environmental problems. He is the founding Director of the Center for Water Research at Peking University, holding a chair professorship in the College of Engineering.

“I am extremely honored and humbled by the international recognitions.” Dr. Zheng said of his receiving both the Meinzer award and the Hubbert award in the same year. Dr. Zheng hopes to apply his international background and expertise in hydrogeology to help find solutions for China’s severe water scarcity and groundwater contamination problems. Toward that end, Dr. Zheng is currently leading a team of faculty members, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students to conduct both fundamental and applied research at numerous locations throughout the country, including the North China Plain, the Heihe River Basin in northwest China, and the Yangtze Delta in southeast China.

Dr. Chunmiao Zheng with Dr. Jozsef Toth, the first recipient of O.E. Meinzer Award (1965). Photo taken in Beijing, China in June 2013.