Prof. Zhou Zhekun was recently honored with the title of "Honorary Membership of the International Organization of Palaeobotany" for his outstanding contributions to palaeobotany, at the 15th International Palynological Congress (IPC-XV 2024) and the 11th International Organisation of Palaeobotany Conference (IOPC-XI 2024) held in Prague of Czech Republic in May. 

Prof. Zhou Zhekun has long been engaged in interdisciplinary research on the evolution of the Cenozoic flora and its environmental background. He has achieved a series of innovative results in areas such as the diversity evolution of Cenozoic plants in China. He has published more than 360 academic papers in internationally renowned journals such as Science, Science Advances, Nature Communications, PNAS, National Science Review (NSR), with over 9480 times cited.  

He has received honors such as the Outstanding Field Work Person of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Second Prize of Natural Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the First Prize of Natural Science of Yunnan Province (three times), and the First Prize of the Natural Science and Technology Award Nomination of the Ministry of Education, etc. 

The International Organization of Palaeobotany (IOP) was founded in Paris, France in 1954 and is one of the most influential societies in the international paleobiological field. The IOP Honorary Membership was established to recognize outstanding palaeobotanists in the field of palaeobotany. A total of eight palaeobotanists have been honored with this title, since its establishment in 2018. 

This year, the IOP Honorary Membership was also awarded to Prof. Else Marie Friis at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, who’s a renowned paleobotanist and also a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). 

Zhou Zhekun receives Honorary Membership  of IOP. 

IOP Honorary Membership   certificate.