Palaeobotanist, Research Professor of Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS), born in Shanghai, graduated in 1954 from Department of Geology, Nanjing University, as a postgraduate in NIGPAS during 1956-1961. Elected Academician in 1995.
Visiting Scientist of Department of Botany, Reading University and London University, and Department of Geology, Manchester University during 1980-1982(two years). (exchange programme of CAS & Royal Society of United Kindom) .
Visiting Scientist of Forschungsinstitut Naturhistorisch Museum Senckenberg in 1990 (three months).(supported by Max-Planck Foundation) .
Visiting Professor of Paleobotanical Laboratory, Claude-Bernard University, Lyon 1 from 1996-1998 (three months). (supported by Claude-Bernard University, Lyon 1) .
Visiting Professor of Paleobotanical Department, Swedish Museum of Natural History in 2002 (one month). (exchange programme of CAS & Royal Academy of Sciences, Sweden) .
1983-1991 Vice-President of Palaeobotanical Society of China.
1992- 2006 President of Paleobotanical Society of China.
1984-1993 Vice-President of Paleobotanical Committee, Botanical Society of China.
1987-1992 Vice-Chairman of International Organization of Paleobotany (IOP).
1986-1996 Regional Representative of IOP.
1993-2006? Committee member of International Association of Plant Taxonomy (IAPT), Committee for fossil plants.
1979-2006 Member of Editorial Board of “Acta Palaeontologica Sinica”.
1988-1993 Member of Editorial Board of “Acta Botanica Sinica”.
1989-1993 Member of Editorial Board of “Chinese Journal of Botany”.
1977-1999 Member of Editorial Board of “Journal of Stratigraphy”.
2000-2005 Editor-in-Chief of “Journal of Stratigraphy”.
2006- Member of Editorial Board of “Journal of Stratigraphy”.
1986-1989 Member of Editorial Board of “Palaeontologia Sinica”.
1989- Editor-in-Chief of “Palaeontologia Sinica”.
2006- Member of Editorial Board of “Palaeoworld”
2008- Member of Editorial Board of “Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology”
2008-? Member of Editorial Board of “Palaeontology”
2016- Editor in Chief of “Palaeobotanica Sinica”.
Honors and Awards:
I. Outstanding Research Award, Academia Sinica
(1) 3rd class prize for Progress in Science and Technology in 1986 for “Early Liassic plants from Southwestern Hunan, China”. Palaeontologia Sinica, n.s.A, no. 7, whole no. 165 (1984)
(2) 1st class prize for Natural Sciences in 1994 for “Studies on Mesozoic ginkgoaleans”
(3) 2nd class prize for Natural Sciences in 1996 for “Stratigraphy and Palaeontology of Fildes Peninsula King George Island, Antarctica” (collaborated with Shen Yanbin et al.)
(4) 2nd class prize for Natural Sciences in 1997 for “Fossil Floras of China through Geological Ages” (collaborated with Prof. Li Xingxue et al.)
II. Prize for Scientific and Technological progress of Jiangsu Province
2nd class prize in 2010 for “Diversity Changes of Mesozoic floras in China”
III. Birbal Sahni Centenary Award, Birbal-Savitri Sahni Foundation, 1996
IV. National Outstanding Scientific Researcher, nominated by the State Council in 1991
V. Honorary Member, Palaeobotanical Section, American Botanical Society, 1989-present
*Caroline Mairot, Gaetan Guignard, Xiao-Ju Yang,, Zhi-Yan Zhou. 2014. Cuticle micro- and ultrastructure of Suturovagina Chow etTsao (Cheirolepidiaceae): Taxonomic and palaeoecological implications. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 205 (2014) 9–21
* Batten, D. J., Zhou, Z., Li, W. 2014. Plant remains from Early Cretaceous deposits on the Goban Spur, Bay of Biscay, North Atlantic Ocean, and their palaeoenvironmental significance. Palaeoworld, 23,162–186.
Yang X.-j., Zhou Z.-y., Wu X.-w, 2014. On the Nomenclature Problems of some Chinese Ginkgoaleans fossil plants. Acta Palaeonotologica Sinica, 53 (3): 263-273
*Zhou Weiming, Shi Guijun, Zhou Zhiyan, and Wang Jun. 2017. Roof Shale Flora of Coal Seam from the Asselian（Lower Permian）Taiyuan Formation of the Wuda Coalfield, Inner Mongolia and Its Ecostratigraphic Significance. Acta Geologica Sinica, 91(1): 22-38.
*Xiao-Ju Yang, Gaetan Guignard, Zhi-Yan Zhou, Qing Xu. 2018. Suturovagina intermedia (Cheirolepidiaceae) from the Lower Cretaceous Dalazi Formation of Wangqing, Northeast China: Cuticle ultrastructure and palaeoenvironmental insights. Cretaceous Research, 91: 81-99
*Gongle Shi, Haomin Li, Andrew B. Leslie and Zhiyan Zhou. 2018
Araucaria bract-scale complex and associated foliage from the early-middle Eocene of Antarctica and their implications for Gondwanan biogeography. Historical Biology
https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2018.1472255
*Dong C, Zhiyan Zhou, Bole Zhang, Yongdong Wang, Gongle Shi, 2019.
Umaltolepis and associated Pseudotorellia leaves from the Middle Jurassic of Yima in Henan Province, Central China. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 271:104-111.
Zhou Zhiyan, Yang Xiaoju, Wu Xiangwu, 2020. Palaeobotanica Sinica Ginkgophytes. Beijing: Science Prees. 1-458
*Deng S. H., Yang X.J., Zhou Z.Y. 2020. A new Ginkgo from the Lower Cetaceous of Liaoning, Northeast China and its evolutionary implications. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 283: 1-10.
Zhou Zhiyan, 1983. Stalagma samara, a new Podocarpaceous conifer with monocolpate pollen from the Upper Triassic of Hunan, China. Palaeontographica, B. 185, 56-78, 12pls
Zhou Zhiyan, 1983. A heterophyllous Cheirolepidiaceous conifer from the Cretaceous of East China. Palaeontology, 26：789-811, pls. 75-80
Zhou Zhiyan, 1983. Quarternary record of Azolla pinnata in China and its sporoderm ultrastructure. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 39, 109-129, 4pls
Batten, D. J., Creber, G. T., Zhou Zhiyan, 1984. Fossil Plants and other organic debris in Cretaceous sediments from deep sea drilling project Leg 80: Their paleoenvironmental significance and source potential. Initial Reports of DSDP, 80: 629-641, 7pls
Zhou Zhiyan, 1987. Elatides harrisii, sp. nov., from the Lower Cretaceous of Liaoning, China. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology., 51: 189-204, 4pls
Li Xingxue, Ye Meina, Zhou Zhiyan, 1987. Late Early Cretaceous flora from Shansong, Jiaohe, Jilin Province, Northeast China. Palaeontologia Cathayana, 3: 1-53, 45pls
Barale，G.，Zhou Zhiyan, 1988. On the presence of the genus Sinoctenis Sze in the Upper Triassic flora from North Vietnam. Revue de Paleobiologie, 7(1): 25-32, 2pls,
Zhou Zhiyan, 1989. Late Triassic plants form Shaqiao, Hengyang, Hunan Province. Palaeontologia Cathayana, 4: 131-197, 15pls
Zhou Zhiyan, Zhang Bole. 1989. A Middle Jurassic Ginkgo with ovule-bearing organs from Henan, China. Palaeontographica, B.211: 113-133, 8pls
Zhou Zhiyan, Zhang Bole. 1989. A sederitic Protocupressinoxylon with insect borings and frass from the Middle Jurassic, Henan, China. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 56: 133-143, 3pls
Zhou Zhiyan, 1991. Phylogeny and evolutionary trends of Mesozoic ginkgoaleans – a preliminary assessment. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 68: 203-216
Zhou Zhiyan, Zhang Bole, 1992. Baiera hallei Sze and associated ovule-bearing organs from the Middle Jurassic of Henan, China. Palaeontographica, B224: 151-169, 8pls
Zhou Zhiyan, Kirchner, M., 1992. Carbonized wood of Hirmerella from the Basal Liassic in Grossbellhofen, Nürnberg, Germany. Chinese Journal of Botany, 4(1): 56-61, 2pls
Zhou Zhiyan, 1993. Comparative ultrastructure of fossil and living ginkgoacean megaspore membranes. Review Palaeobotany and Palynology, 78: 167-182, 5pls
Zhou Zhiyan, Wu Yimin, 1994. Upper Gondwana plants from the Puna Formation, southern Xizang (Tibet). Palaeobotanist, 42(2): 120-125, 1pl
Zhou Zhiyan, 1995. On some Cretaceous psendofrenelopsids with a brief review of Cheirolepidiaceous conifers in China. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 84: 419-438, 5pls
Zhou Zhiyan, Zhang Bole, 1996. A Jurassic species of Arctobaiera (Czekanowskiales) with leafy long and dwarf shoots from the Middle Jurassic Yima Formation of Henan, China. Palaeobotanist, 45:361-368, 2pls
Zhou Zhiyan, 1997. Mesozoic ginkgoalean megafossils - a systematic review. In Hori, T. et al., (eds.) Ginkgo biloba - A Global Treasure from Biology to Medicine. Springer-Verlag, Tokyo, 183-206
Zhou Zhiyan, Zhang Bole, 1998. Tianshia patens gen. et sp. nov., a new type of leafy shoots associated with Phoenicopsis from the Middle Jurassic Yima Formation, Henan, China. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 102(3/4): 165-178, 4pls
Zhou Zhiyan, Guignard, G., 1998. Leaf cuticular ultrastructure of two czekanowskialeans from the Middle Jurassic Yima Formation of Henan, China, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 102(3/4): 179-187, 3pls
Yao Xuanli, Zhou Zhiyan, Zhang Bole, 1998. Reconstruction of the Jurassic conifer Sewardiodendron laxum (Taxodiaceae). American Journal of Botany, 85(4): 1289-1300, 40textfigs
Barale, G., Thévénard, F., Zhou Zhiyan, 1998. Discovery of Nilssoniopteris in the Middle Jurassic Yima Formation of Henan, Central China. Geobios, 31(1): 13-20, 2pls
Zhou Zhiyan, Thévénard, F, Barale, G., Guignard, G., 2000. A new xeromorphic conifer from the Cretaceous of East China, Palaeontology, 43(3): 561-572, 3pls
Thévénard, F.，Guignard, G.，Gomez, B., Zhou Zhiyan， 2000. Genre Glenrosa, example de plantes xérophytes ou accommodation physiologique? Monografias de la Academia de Ciencias, fisicas Químicas y Naturales de Zaragoza, Spain, 16:45-51
Zhou Zhiyan, Wu Xiangwu, Zhang Bole, 2000. Tharrisia, a new fossil leafy organ genus, with description of three Jurassic species from China. Palaeontographica, B 256, 95-109, 7pls
Zhou Zhiyan, Zhang Bole, Wang Yongdong, Guignard, G., 2002. A new Karkenia (Ginkgoales) from the Jurassic Yima Formation, Henan, China and its megaspore membrane ultrastructure. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynolgy, 120:91-105
Zhou Zhiyan, Zheng Shaolin, 2003. The missing link in Ginkgo evolution. Nature, 423: 821-822
Zheng Shaolin, Zhou Zhiyan, 2004. A new Mesozoic Ginkgo from western Liaoning, China and its evolutionary significance. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 131: 91-103
*Deng Shenghui, Yang Xiaoju, Zhou Zhiyan, 2004. An Early Cretaceous Ginkgo ovule-bearing organ fossil from Liaoning, Northeast Chinaand its evolutionary implications.
Guignard, G., Zhou Zhiyan, 2005. Comparative studies of leaf cuticle ultrastructure between living and the oldest known fossil Ginkgos in China. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 166 (1): 145-156
Zhou Zhiyan, Wu Xiangwu, 2006. The rise of ginkgoalean plants in the early Mesozoic: a data analysis. Geological Journal, 41:363-375.
Wu Xiangwu, Yang Xiaoju, Zhou Zhiyan, 2006. Ginkgoalean ovulate organs and seeds sociated with Baiera furcata-type leaves from the Middle Jurassic of Qinghai Province, China. Review of Palaeobtany and Palynolgy, 138:209-225
Zhou Zhiyan, Zheng Shaolin, Zhang Lijun, 2007. Morphology and age of Yimaia (Ginkgoales) from Daohugou Village, Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia, China. Cretaceous Research, 28:348-362
Wu Xiang-Wu，Zhou Zhi-Yan，WANG Yong-Dong. Nomenclatural notes on some ginkgoalean fossil plants from China. Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica, 4:880-883.
Yang, X.J., Friis, E.M., Zhou, Z.Y. 2008 Ovulate organs of Ginkgo ginkgoidea (Tralau) comb. nov., and associated leaves from the Middle Jurassic of Scania, South Sweden. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 149, 1-17.
Zhi-Yan, Zhou, 2009. An overview of fossil Ginkgoales. Palaeoworld, 19, 1-22.
Cheng Quan, Ge Sun and Zhiyan Zhou+, A new Tertiary Ginkgo (Ginkgoaceae) from the Wuyun Formation of Jiayin, Heilongjiang, northeastern China and its paleoenvironmental implications. Amer. J. Bot. 97(3):446-457.
Gongle Shi, Zhiyan Zhou+, Zhiming Xie, 2010. A nw Cephalotaxus and associated epiphyllous fungi from the Oligocane of Guangxi, South China. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 161 (2010) 179–195
Maher I. El-Soughier, R.C. Mehrotra, Zhi-Yan Zhou+, Gong-Le Shi，2011. Nypa fruits and seeds from the Maastrichtian–Danian sediments of Bir Abu Minqar, South Western Desert, Egypt. Palaeoworld 20 (2011) 75–83
Gongle Shi, Zhiyan Zhou+, Zhiming Xie, 2011. Cupressus foliage shoots and associated seed cones from the Oligocene Ningming Formation of Guangxi, South China. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 166, 325-334
Zhiyan Zhou+, Cheng Quan, and Yu-Sheng (Christopher) Liu, 2012. Tertiary Ginkgo ovulate organs with associated leaves from North Dakota, USA and their evolutionary significance. International Journal of Plant Sciences, Vol. 173, No. 1, pp. 67-8
Gongle Shi, Zhiyan Zhou+, Zhiming Xie, 2012. A new Calocedrus from South China and its implication for transpacific floristic exchanges.American Journal of Botany, 99(1): 1–13. 2012.
Hill, C.R., X. J. Yang, Z. Y. Zhou, J. C. Doyal, 2012. Exceptionally preserved conifer twigs of Pseudofrenelopsis from the marine Lower Cretaceous of Yorkshire, England. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 51:395-410.
Caroline Mairot, *Gaetan Guignard, *Xiao-Ju Yang,, Zhi-Yan Zhou, 2014. Cuticle micro- and ultrastructure of Suturovagina Chow et Tsao (Cheirolepidiaceae): Taxonomic and palaeoecological implications. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 205, 9–21
*Batten, D. J., Zhou, Z., Li, W. 2014. Plant remains from Early Cretaceous deposits on the Goban Spur, Bay of Biscay, North Atlantic Ocean, and their palaeoenvironmental significance. Palaeoworld, 23,162–186.