Dr. Zia is currently serving as Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Development and Applied Economics at the University of Vermont. He has a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research is focused on the development of computational and complex-systems based approaches for Policy Analysis, Governance Informatics and Adaptive Management.  His published research spans the substantive policy domains of transportation, air quality and land-use planning; climate policy; and international development and biodiversity conservation. Currently, he is working with a large inter-disciplinary team on a MacArthur foundation funded project to understand the complexity of trade-offs between conservation and development policies in Tanzania, Peru and Vietnam. He is also developing agent-based models and complex system dynamic models to understand the dynamics of formation and continuation of regional governance networks, such as metropolitan planning organizations, regional planning commissions and watershed partnerships.

His professional career began as a civil servant in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of the Federal Government of Pakistan. Prior to joining the University of Vermont, he has also worked as a post-doctoral scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and as an Assistant Professor at the San Jose State University. His research, teaching and community service activities have been focused on five interconnected areas:

Policy Analysis of Complex Systems

Adaptive Decision Making and Adaptive Management

Transportation, Air Quality and Land-Use Planning

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Policy Evaluation

International Development and Environmental Sustainability