Shelley Zhou spotlight, Senior Staff Scientist at SLB

From arriving in the United States from China as a graduate student to becoming a renowned global corrosion expert, Shelley Zhou has spent more than three decades researching and advancing asset integrity in the oil and gas industry. 

Shelley’s journey into the industry began in 1990 at Ohio University where she studied chemical engineering. During her time there, she focused on corrosion in multiphase pipelines and pipeline integrity, publishing several papers on the subject at conferences such as The Association for Materials Protection and Performance (formerly The National Association of Corrosion Engineers) and The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers. One of Shelley’s published papers helped her university secure critical funding from the National Science Foundation in 1992 - an early sign of the impact her research would have on the industry. 

In 1994, she joined SLB as a Research Engineer, driven to turn her extensive research into real life solutions. She has been instrumental in the development of high performance, cost effective and environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitors for global operations, including the North Sea, where sustainable chemical treatment programs are essential. She also played a key role in consolidating and optimizing product lines to ensure customers are receiving the most effective, best-fit products.

In her current role as a Senior Staff Scientist, Shelley’s focus is increasingly on mentoring junior scientists on her team. She explained: “Mentoring and knowledge transfer will ensure our next generation can carry on the business we created in the last several decades.” She also champions the importance of work-life balance, sharing her love of travel, gardening, baking and yoga as ways to recharge and de-pressurise after work. This is advice she now shares with the next generation of scientists at SLB, adding, “it's important to find a way to release stress so you can gain the energy to continue your research.”

Shelley’s influence extends across the industry through sustained volunteer work. She has chaired the Electrochemical Techniques and Monitoring Technologies group at NACE and also served as chair of the Association of Chinese Corrosion Engineers, connecting with other professionals on a worldwide scale to collaborate and exchange information on asset integrity.

Shelley’s technical achievements have been recognized with multiple awards during her time in the industry. She will pick up the Oliver Moghissi Asset Integrity Management Award at AMPP 2026, recognition that is especially meaningful for her. She said “I am deeply touched and thankful for this recognition. I was lucky enough to be invited to attend my very first NACE conference in Nashville, Tennessee in 1991. Back then I had recently arrived from China and being invited to such a big event was very memorable and inspiring to me as a young student new to the field. Winning a major award at the conference is a strong reflection of my work in the three decades that have passed since I attended that first conference.”