Qianru Zhu

Qianru Zhu

Research Economist, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

Dr. Qianru (“Chian-roo”) Zhu is a Research Economist in the Energy Systems and Climate Analysis Group at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Her research interest is to develop modeling frameworks to analyze energy/environmental/climate policies and improve decision-making by applying optimization, stochastic processes, and general equilibrium models. At EPRI, she supports the development of the in-house energy economy model REGEN and research on energy systems analysis, integrated planning, and climate resilience analysis. Her most recent project explores air quality implications of economy-wide deep decarbonization by incorporating a comprehensive air quality emissions database into REGEN, as part of the Low-Carbon Resources Initiative. Before joining EPRI, Dr. Zhu completed her PhD in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, where she was also a Trainee of INFEWS (Innovation at the Nexus of Food-Energy-Water Systems) NSF Research Traineeship Program. In her dissertation, she analyzed climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies at diverse scales by applying optimization, risk analysis, and techno-economic modeling frameworks. She earned a BS in Mathematics and a BS in Economics from Penn State