I am a geographer who studies the relationship between nature and society at various geographic scales and its policy implications. Specific research and teaching interests include human dimension of climate change, risk perceptions, environmental policy/planning, community resilience to disasters, and social response to hydrological hazards. My current research can be generalized as: understanding risk decision making in a geographic context. My scholarly work has appeared in the Annals of American Association of Geographers, Environmental Research Letters, Climatic Change, Climate Policy, Geographic Review, Weather, Climate, and Society, Journal of Risk Research, Risk Analysis, International Journal of Climatology, Social Science Quarterly, Disasters, Environmental Politics, Journal of Hydrology, Social Science & Medicine, Scientific Reports, Science of the Total Environment, Water Research, and Energy Research & Social Science. In addition to my academic experience, I have worked for Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority in Louisiana. I consider myself as both an environmental scholar and a practitioner.
Experience
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2018–presentAssistant Professor, University of Alabama
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2015–2018Assistant Professor, Auburn University at Montgomery
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2013–2014Coastal Resources Scientist, Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority
Education
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2012Louisiana State University, Ph.D in Geography
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2009University of Wyoming, Master of Planning
Publications
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2022Sustainable Cities and Society, Hazard risk awareness and disaster management: Extracting the information content of Twitter data
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2022International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Perceptions of earthquake risks and knowledge about earthquake response among movement challenged persons in Dhaka city of Bangladesh
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2022Cities, Being green in a green capital: Assessing drivers of pro-environmental behaviors in Copenhagen
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2021International Journal of Public Health, Understanding American Public Support for COVID-19 Risk Mitigation: The Role of Political Orientation, Socio-Demographic characteristics, Personal Concern, and Experience, the United States, 2020
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2021Health & Place, Understanding the influence of contextual factors and individual social capital on American public mask wearing in response to COVID–19
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2021American Journal of Health Promotion, Understanding the effects of individual and state-level factors on American public response to COVID-19
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2021Humanities and Social Science Communication, Data-driven modeling reveals the Western dominance of global pubic interest in earthquakes
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2020Geographic Review, Understanding evangelical protestant identity, religiosity, extreme weather, and American public perceptions of global warming, 2006-2016
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2020Energy Research and Social Science, What really drives the deployment of renewable energy? A global assessment of 118 countries
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2020Climatic Change, Comparing public perceptions of sea level rise with scientific projections across five states of the U.S. Gulf Coast region
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2020Climate Policy, Polycentric governance with a focus on non-financial capital can enable incremental adaptation in disadvantaged communities
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2020Social Science & Medicine, Confidence in political leaders can slant risk perceptions of COVID–19 in a highly polarized environment
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2020Scientific Reports, A Place-based assessment of flash flood hazard and vulnerability in the contiguous United States
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2020Science of the Total Environment, Retrospective and prospective evaluations of drought and flood
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2019Environmental Research Letters, Predicting support for flood mitigation based on flood insurance purchase behavior
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2019Disasters, Assessing community vulnerability to floods and hurricanes in the U.S. Gulf Coast
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2019Climatic Change, Approval of political leaders can slant evaluation of political issues: Evidence from public concern for climate change in the U.S.
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2019Palgrave Communications , Spatiotemporal patterns of US drought awareness
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2019International Journal Of Environmental Health Research , A spatial epidemiology case study of mentally unhealthy days (MUDs): air pollution, community resilience, and sunlight perspectives
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2018Annals of American Association of Geographers, Examining the effects of objective hurricane risks and community resilience on risk perceptions of hurricanes at the county level in the US Gulf Coast: an innovative approach
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2018Journal of Hydrology, Flood hazards and perceptions-a comparative study in two cities of Alabama
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2017Water Research , A sequential model to link contextual risk, perception and public support for flood adaptation policy
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2017China’s Urbanization and Socioeconomic Impact, Understanding Chinese environmental risk perceptions from 1995 - 2015
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2017Environmental Politics, Weather, climate, politics, or God? – determinants of American public opinions toward global warming
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2017Water Research, Understanding the effects of past flood events, perceived and estimated flood risks on individuals' voluntary flood insurance purchase behaviors
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2017International Journal of Climatology, Understanding perceptions of changing hurricane strength along the U.S. Gulf Coast
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2016Journal of Risk Research, Are actual weather and perceived weather the same?
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2016Risk Analysis, Seeing is believing? - An examination of perceptions of local weather conditions and climate change among residents in the U.S. Gulf Coast
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2016Social Science Quarterly, Science, scientists, and local weather: understanding mass attitudes toward global warming
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2014Weather, Climate, and Society, Weather, climate, and the economy: explaining risk perceptions of global warming, 2001-2010
Grants and Contracts
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2017Early-Career Research Fellow
- Role:
- PI
- Funding Source:
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Program
Professional Memberships
- American Association of Geographers
- American Geophysical Union
- Society for Risk Analysis
Honours
National Science Foundation Enabling Next Generation Hazards Fellow; National Academies of Sciences Gulf Research Program Early-Career Research Fellow
- Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
- Website
- @WanyunShao
- Article Feed
- 205-348-2969
- wanyun.shao
- wanyun.shao@gmail.com
- wshao1@ua.edu
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For media enquiries,
Wanyun.Shao@gmail.com - ORCID
- Joined
