Biography

Dr. Shuang Zhao is an Associate Professor of Political Science at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. She earned her Ph.D. in Public Policy through a joint doctoral program between the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Political Science at Indiana University Bloomington. Her research lies at the intersection of environmental policy, environmental justice, and public health. She examines how environmental harms—from air pollution and lead exposure to toxic releases—disproportionately burden disadvantaged communities and whether green buildings and schools deliver their benefits equitably. Her recent work extends to community resilience and energy policy, including NSF EPSCoR-funded research on AI-driven energy transformation. Her scholarship has been published in journals including Policy Studies Journal, Review of Policy Research, Social Science Quarterly, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, and Applied Geography. A quantitative researcher, Dr. Zhao specializes in econometric and spatial analysis of large datasets and the application of machine learning to policy research. She is also committed to training the next generation of researchers and actively mentors undergraduate and graduate students in data-driven policy research, including through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Scholars Program.

Curriculum Vitae

Guest opinion: Sunday was a sad Mother’s Day for Chinese Alabamians

Education

• Ph.D., Public Policy and Political Science, Indiana University, Bloomington
• M.P.A., Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin
• B.A., Economics, Beijing Technology and Business University

Expertise

• Environmental Policy
• International Relations
• Public Policy

Recent Publications

• Yan, M., Fu, C., Du, H., Conlon, D., Zhao, S., Chen, R., Nogueira de Melo, S., Li, Y., & Xu, Y. (2026). Protector or provocateur? Analysis of U.S. overseas military bases and terrorism. Applied Geography, 194, 104123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2026.104123.

• Soto-Jiménez, M. F., Jaffer, E., Zhao, S., Soto-Morales, S., Roos-Muñoz, S., & Morton-Bermea, O. (2026). Sustained airborne lead exposure in an arid city: The roles of legacy emissions, meteorology, and topographic trapping in Torreón, Mexico. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, 19(6), 131.

• Amiri, A., Dong, X., Amiri, A., Zhao, S., & Fox, M. (2026). Total toxic releases from electric utilities and mining facilities and their relationships with human health in the United States. Air, 4(2), 11.