معرفی
Qian Zhang is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science with a specialty in Urban and Regional Planning at Södertörn University in Stockholm, Sweden. She works within the School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies, focusing on human geography, migration studies, and digital geographies. Her research program bridges traditional geographical concerns with emerging digital and platform economy issues, particularly examining how these transformations affect rural spaces and vulnerable populations.
Dr. Zhang earned her PhD in Human Geography from Stockholm University, where her thesis "Pastoralists and the Environmental State" employed a political ecology approach to analyze environmental change, grassland use, policy interventions, and mobilities in Northern China. Her research trajectory has evolved from studying pastoral communities in China to examining migration patterns in Sweden, with increasing attention to digital geographies and platform economies.
Her research interests encompass vulnerable groups and peripheral spaces, with specific expertise in migration (environmental migration, labor migration, and migrant integration), rural change, political ecology, and digital geographies. She employs mixed and qualitative methods in her studies across Sweden and China, with recent work focusing on how digital platforms reshape rural economies and migration experiences.
Dr. Zhang's publication record shows a clear evolution toward platform economy studies, with recent articles examining the intersection of digital platforms with rural spaces, migration patterns, and labor markets. Her work spans high-impact journals including Geoforum, Digital Geography and Society, Journal of Rural Studies, and Technology in Society, demonstrating interdisciplinary reach across geography, migration studies, and digital humanities.
She serves on the editorial board of the peer-reviewed journal Rural Landscape: Society, Environment and History and conducts peer reviews for numerous high-quality scientific journals. Her current research projects include "Digital Nature" (2023-2026), which she leads as project leader, examining social-technical relations in Sweden's rural agriculture and wild harvesting industries, as well as several other projects related to migration, climate mobility, and platform economies.
Dr. Zhang has secured research funding from major Swedish research councils including the Swedish Research Council, Formas, and Uppdrag Landsbygd, as well as international funding sources like the Belmont Forum and European Commission. Her collaborative work demonstrates strong connections with researchers across Sweden and internationally, particularly in migration and rural studies.
