Renjie Zhou

New PhD applicants: I am always looking forward to working with new PhD students. Please get in touch with me to talk about potential projects and applicaiton timelines.

Additional informaiton for international PhD applicants: The upcoming PhD scholarship applications for international students will close in early December 2025. Successful applicants will commence PhD studies at UQ from Oct 2026 or Jan 2027. Please get in touch with me with a copy of your CV to discuss potential projects.

I am a Senior Lecturer in Geochronology and Tectonics. I am also an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellow working on using geochronology (and thermochronology) and micro-analysis to improve knowledge in geoscience related to critical minerals. This Fellowship project is a key activity in my research group and I am always looking for motivated students and ECRs to join this research. It is sponsored by Queensland State Government and in collaboration with leading companies in the critical minerals industry.

Here's my recent seminar on some of the work in my group: https://youtu.be/twNcLECCqPg?si=501qcfSA2mJdHxUh

Broadly speaking, my research advances fundamentals of Plate Tectonics, the unique and unifying theory for our home planet. My group uses a set of field, laboratory, and computational approaches to reveal the geologic history of modern and ancient plate boundaries, focusing on reconstructing the evolution of plate-margin mountains and basins. Such regions are among the most dynamic in the Earth system: their development alters regional and global climate, impacts biogeographic evolution, triggers earthquakes and other geologic hazards, and determines formation and distribution of natural resources such as critical minerals. I have been fortunate to work in some of the most rewarding areas for geologists, including the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau, Central Andes, eastern Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands. Check out some of my field photos here. I am the lead of UQ Thermochronology Lab. As an in-depth user of UQ RIF (Radiogenic Isotope Facility), I also work with laser ablation ICP-MS with recent work around laser ablation geochronology and geochemistry.

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Editorial activities: I am a Subject Editor for Journal of the Geological Society and a member of the Editorial Board for Results in Earth Sciences. I am the lead Editor for issue 'Geochronology and Critical Minerals Systems' at Ore Geology Reviews. More information could be found here.

Teaching activities: My teaching duties range from delivering introductory courses, upper-year disciplinary courses, to research training courses. Here's a YouTube video of my first-year course [Link]. Also, here's a sneak peek into my SCIE4000 research course [Link].