Zenji Yatabe successfully climbed the 7,509 m peak of Mount Muztagh Ata, Xinjiang, China, in 2001. He studied at the École normale supérieure de Cachan (ENS Cachan), France from 2005 to 2006 as a Ph.D. scholar under the Collège doctoral Franco-Japonais (CDFJ) program. He received his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), Japan, in 2008. He worked as a Post-doctoral fellow from 2009 to 2010 at the Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA), France. In 2011, he joined the Research Center for Integrated Quantum Electronics (RCIQE), Hokkaido University, Japan. In 2015, he moved to the Kumamoto University, Japan as an Assistant Professor, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020. In 2025, he was appointed Associate Professor at the Research Center for Integrated Quantum Electronics (RCIQE), Hokkaido University. His current research interests include characterization and control of surfaces and interfaces of compound semiconductor materials. He is a 2016 Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP) Outstanding Paper Awardee.