Weijian Zhou is a geologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences known for her research into environmental changes in the Quaternary era using radiocarbon data.
[4][5] In 2016, she was named a fellow of the American Geophysical Union who cited her "for exceptional contributions to radiocarbon dating and our understanding of East Asian and global environmental changes using radionuclides as tracers".
Through these data streams, Zhou studies to chronostratigraphy in the Quaternary era, the period from 2.9 million years ago to the present.
Her research has provided insights into the monsoons in China,[7][8] and records of ancient rainfall through tracking of beryllium-10 in dust layers.
[9][10] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zhou's research showed carbon dioxide concentrations were lower than previous years, but this decrease was short-lived because values returned to pre-pandemic levels when lockdown restrictions were lifted.