Fengxiu Zhang

Fengxiu Zhang is an Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. She also serves as an advisory committee member for the Virginia Climate Center (VCC) and is a core faculty affiliate at the Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (C-RASC) at George Mason.

Zhang’s research centers on climate adaptation, disaster resilience, energy policy, and technology in government. She integrates institutional, organizational, psychological, and network perspectives to better understand how and why individuals and organizations prepare for, respond to, and recover from climate hazards and disasters. Her work on energy policy examines the infrastructural, managerial, regulatory, and equity dimensions of energy transitions, with a particular focus on the shift to electric vehicles and the development of data centers. Her recent research on technology emphasizes open government data, highlighting the users’ perspective and its implications for social equity.

Zhang’s work has been published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Global Environmental Change, Public Administration Review, Public Management Review, Public Administration, Journal of Environmental Management, Urban Climate, Climatic Change, and selected transportation journals. Her work is funded by the National Science Foundation, the Natural Hazards Center, and the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority, totaling more than $2 million.

Zhang has received multiple awards and recognition for her work, including the 2022 Best Reviewer from Journal of Public Administration and Research Theory, 2019 Staats Emerging Scholar at Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affair and Administration (NASPAA), 2019 Digital Governance Junior Scholar in Section on Science & Technology in Government (SSTIG) at American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), 2019 Best Student Paper in Section of Transportation Policy and Transportation (STPA) at ASPA, 2019 Dissertation Completion Fellowship in the Graduate College of Arizona State University as well as 2019 Honorable Mention, and the William E. Mosher and Frederick C. Mosher Award for her Public Administration Review article.