Dr. Wanyun Shao

Dr. Wanyun Shao is an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Alabama. She is currently serving as the UA College of Arts & Sciences Leadership Board Fellow. She is also a faculty fellow for the Alabama Water Institute. 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 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Program from 2017-2019.  

Her primary research interests are focused on the intersection of hazards, vulnerability, and risk decision making. Specific interests include: human dimension of climate change, risk perceptions, community resilience, social response to hazards, and public health. Shao applies many quantitative methods in her research, including geospatial analysis, statistical analysis, and text 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. Her research has been supported by the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Treasury. 

Since 2014, Dr. Shao’s 54 peer-reviewed publications have appeared in numerous reputable international scholarly journals. She is listed among Elsevier World’s Top 2% Scientists in 2023 and 2024. For science communication efforts, Shao has published several policy analysis articles for mass media outlets such as the Conversation,Vox, and the Washington Post. She has been featured in the New York Times and National Geographic. 

While pursuing Ph.D at Louisiana State University, 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 U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). She interviewed governmental officials, scientists, and non-governmental agencies’ staff on Louisiana’s disappearing coastline. For her doctoral dissertation, she examined American public risk perceptions of global warming from 2001-2010. After receiving her Ph.D, Shao worked as a Coastal Resources Scientist  at Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) in Louisiana.