Zhen Wang received a BA in Industrial Design at the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts. She completed an MA in Architectural History and a PhD in Landscape Architecture at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). Her doctoral thesis focused on landscape architecture and the engineering of hard armoring for urban riverbanks, and was revised and published as a book in 2014. Zhen joined the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2000 as an associate professor, where she has taught Theories and Methods of Landscape Design, Sustainable Environmental Design, and several other courses in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning. From 2009 to 2010 she was a visiting scholar at Cardiff University in Wales, UK. She is the co-founder and current director of the Administration Committee of the Water Fund, which is supported by the China Overseas-Educated Scholars Development Foundation—a nonprofit organization focusing on environmental problems caused by urbanization, as well as the design, regeneration, and conservation of cultural landscapes in China.
While at the Rachel Carson Center, Zhen is beginning a new project on cultural landscape research focusing on minority villages' changing landscapes in southwest China.
RCC Research Project: Changing Cultural Landscapes—A Case Study on Minority Villages in Southwest China
Selected publications:
- Wang, Zhen. “Application of the Ecotone Theory in Construction of Urban Eco-waterfront.” In International Conference on Environmental Science and Information Application Technology Vol. 2, 316–20. Wuhan: Computer Society Press, 2009.
- Wang, Zhen. “Research on Anti-negative Optimization Strategy of Plants of Urban Riverbanks: A Case Study of the Riverbank Landscape in Wuhan City.” Presented at the Academic Committee of National PhD Candidates Academic Conference (Architecture, Urban Planning, Landscape), School of Architecture & Urban Planning, Tongji University, 2011; School of Architecture, Xian University of Architecture and Technology, 2011; In Proceedings of National PhD Candidates Academic Conference (Architecture, Urban Planning, Landscape) 11, 277–81. Beijing: China Architecture & Building Press, 2012.
- Wang, Zhen. “The Sense of Dimensions in Urban Design.” Chinese Architectural Decoration 10 (2014): 110–11.
- Wang, Zhen. Theories and Strategies of Landscape Design in Urban Riverbanks. Huazhong University of Science & Technology Press, 2014.
- Wang, Zhen. “Study on Environment Optimization Principles of High-Tech Parks in China under the Theory of Creative Class.” Chinese Architectural Decoration 2 (2015): 120–21.
- Wang, Zhen, and Min Wan. “Function Characters and Design Principles of Low-carbon Landscape Architecture.” Chinese Landscape Architecture 6 (2010): 35–38.