Ruodan Zhang

Ruodan Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on nonprofit management, volunteerism, and diversity within nonprofit organizations, with a broader agenda exploring citizen participation in public affairs and the roles of public/nonprofit organizations. Key projects include:

• Public Opinion on Climate Change and Environmental Nonprofit Density: Examines the relationship between climate change public opinion and U.S. environmental nonprofit density (2014–2019).
• Government Grants and Nonprofits’ Use of Volunteers: Investigates unintended effects of government grants on nonprofits’ volunteer reliance.
• Nonprofit Identification Methods with Word Embedding: Develops text-as-data workflows to identify nonprofits using IRS Form 990 data (2010–2016).

She holds a primary research theme in 'People and the City,' with secondary interests in social-ecological systems. Contact: ruodan.zhang@uconn.edu or https://ruodanzhang.github.io.