University of Leeds
Dr. Shang Zhang is a Research Fellow in Carbon Accounting at the University of Leeds. Her research focuses on environmental big data, carbon and material footprint accounting, and the use of large-scale datasets to understand the environmental impacts embedded in production, consumption and trade. She is particularly interested in linking different data sources, including economic, environmental, trade, technology and spatial datasets, to generate policy-relevant evidence for climate and resource decision-making.
Her doctoral research at Tsinghua University developed integrated modelling approaches to quantify embedded plastic flows and associated carbon emissions across international trade and global value chains, using material flow analysis, input-output modelling and sectoral footprint accounting. Before joining Leeds, she worked in international environmental governance and policy processes at the United Nations Environment Programme and the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, supporting work on circular economy, plastic pollution governance, zero-waste strategies and science-policy communication.
In the UKERC Watts Right project, Shang works as a Data Scientist on clean energy policy and net-zero technology uptake. Her work uses Python and small-area data to collect, align and analyse geodemographic, housing and energy technology datasets across UK communities, helping to understand how clean energy policies and technologies are experienced by different places and population groups.