Jie Zhuang is one of nine members of the international cohort
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A University of Tennessee professor of soil science is among the nine newest Fellows of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). Jie Zhuang, a professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science within the UT Institute of Agriculture, will formally receive the honor November 3, during CANVAS 2026, an international meeting of multiple scientific communities involved in crop, agronomic, environmental and soil science research.
CANVAS 2026 is expected to attract more than 4,000 scientists and innovators interested in global agricultural success.
Fellow is the highest honor bestowed by SSSA. The designation recognizes members who have achieved excellence in soil science and demonstrated outstanding service to the profession and to SSSA throughout their careers. Recipients are recognized for their significant contributions to research, education, industry, Extension and leadership, as well as their lasting impact on soil science and the broader scientific community.
Zhuang is also a Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and is affiliated with the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment (ISSE) at the University of Tennessee. He is a frequently published scholar interested in topics ranging from the food-energy-water (FEW) nexus to the fate and transport of contaminants (including viruses, bacteria, organic pollutants, heavy metals, engineering nanoparticles, and nutrients), soil hydrology modeling, pore-scale carbon-water interactions, root water uptake, and physical foundation of phage-host interactions. His most recent endeavors include studies of the food-energy-water nexus on small farms within the framework of circular bioeconomy. He is among the editors of the recently published open access Handbook of Circular Bioeconomy, a guide for students and professional to future farming activities that could reshape urban-rural relationships, including policy and engineering practices in global communities, to facilitate natural resource–based industries that address biosecurity, conservation and other global concerns.
Zhuang is currently a member of the UTIA Advisory Council. He has also served as faculty director of environmental and soil science graduate studies for his department (2022-2026) and the faculty lead of UT Cluster Hiring Initiative for Resilient Agriculture and Forest Systems (RAFS) and the RAFS Community of Scholars in the past years. He has been recognized with numerous faculty awards.
Zhuang received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in soil science from Shenyang Agricultural University in China.
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is comprised of the Herbert College of Agriculture, UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch and UT Extension. Through its land-grant mission of teaching, research and outreach, the Institute touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. to Tennesseans and beyond. utia.tennessee.edu.