Realizing that a scientist’s ability is limited, Lu Zhi decided to transfer to a conservationist. In 1995, Lu Zhi joined the World Wide Fund for Nature as a program officer. She was responsible for all aspects of program development, planning activities focused on giant pandas, and the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Since 2002, she's the first director of Conservation Shanshui and has been mainly to protect the biodiversity and ecosystems in western China, where China’s main biodiversity “hotspots” are. Currently Conservation International is a partner of Shan-Shui.