Crystal Chang joins the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) from the department of political science at the University of California, Berkeley. Her doctoral dissertation research focuses on China's growing independent automotive industry, examining Chinese automakers alongside historical case studies from Japan and Korea.

During her time at Shorenstein APARC, she will expand her dissertation to include a comparative study of India's contemporary automotive industry, which, like China's, has experienced domestic and international success. She will also continue research that she is currently conducting about China's private energy sector, with a focus on the solar power industry.

Chang holds an MPIA degree in international management from the University of California, San Diego, and a BA in international relations from Stanford University.