Dr. Wanyun Shao is currently an Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Alabama. She was a fellow for the National Science Foundation Enabling Next Generation of Hazards and Disaster Researchers Fellowship Program for the 2019 - 2021 round. She was an Early-Career research fellow of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Program from 2017-2019.
Her primary research interests are focused on human-environment interactions at various geographic scales and their policy implications. Specific interests include: human dimension of climate change, risk perceptions, community resilience, social response to hydrological hazards, and hazards and public health. Dr. Shao applies many quantitative methods in her research, including geospatial analysis and statistical analysis. The interdisciplinary nature of her research leads her to work across traditional disciplinary lines. She has worked with scientists in a wide range of fields, including climatology, civil and environmental engineering, political science, sociology, public policy, communication, statistics, and economics. She has published 35 peer-reviewed articles and one book chapter. She has reviewed manuscripts for more than 30 journals including prestigious journals such as Nature Energy, Nature Climate Change, and Nature Sustainability. For science communication effort, she has published several policy analysis articles for mass media outlets such as the Conversation, Vox, and the Washington Post. She has been quoted in the New York Times and National Geographic. She is an associate editor in the subject area of Geography and Demography for Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (a Nature journal).
Dr. Shao was a research assistant for the multidisciplinary Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP), a Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) team funded by the NOAA. After receiving her Ph.D, she worked as a Coastal Resources Scientist in the Plan Development Unit at Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) in Louisiana.
Her primary research interests are focused on human-environment interactions at various geographic scales and their policy implications. Specific interests include: human dimension of climate change, risk perceptions, community resilience, social response to hydrological hazards, and hazards and public health. Dr. Shao applies many quantitative methods in her research, including geospatial analysis and statistical analysis. The interdisciplinary nature of her research leads her to work across traditional disciplinary lines. She has worked with scientists in a wide range of fields, including climatology, civil and environmental engineering, political science, sociology, public policy, communication, statistics, and economics. She has published 35 peer-reviewed articles and one book chapter. She has reviewed manuscripts for more than 30 journals including prestigious journals such as Nature Energy, Nature Climate Change, and Nature Sustainability. For science communication effort, she has published several policy analysis articles for mass media outlets such as the Conversation, Vox, and the Washington Post. She has been quoted in the New York Times and National Geographic. She is an associate editor in the subject area of Geography and Demography for Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (a Nature journal).
Dr. Shao was a research assistant for the multidisciplinary Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP), a Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) team funded by the NOAA. After receiving her Ph.D, she worked as a Coastal Resources Scientist in the Plan Development Unit at Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) in Louisiana.