People

Yingjie Hu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University at Buffalo (UB). He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, a Faculty Member of the UB Center for Geological and Climate Hazards, and an Affiliate Professor of the UB AI and Data Science Institute. His major research area is in GIScience and more specifically GeoAI. He holds a PhD from the Department of Geography at UC Santa Barbara. He received his MS and BS degrees from East China Normal University. He is the author of over 70 peer-reviewed articles in top international journals and conferences. He and his work received awards at international, national, and university levels, including the UCGIS Early/Mid-Career Research Award, AAG SAM Emerging Scholar Award, Waldo-Tobler Young Researcher Award, GIScience Best Full Paper Award, CPGIS Young Scholar Award, UB Exceptional Scholar: Young Investigator Award, Jack and Laura Dangermond GIS Graduate Fellow Award, Doctoral Scholarship from the Cartography and Geographic Information Society, National Award for Outstanding Chinese PhD Students Studying Abroad, AAG International Geographic Information Fund Award, and UCSB Geography Excellence in Research Award. His research was also covered by major media such as CNN, NPR, Reuters, and VOA News. He is passionate about doing GIScience research, training the next generation’s GIS leaders, and serving communities.

Gaurish Lakhanpal is a research intern in the GeoAI Lab. He is an undergraduate student in the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University. Previously, He was a student at Stevenson High School (graduated in Spring 2023). He’s interested in exploring the world of GeoAI, specifically looking at spatial bias in data. In his free time he enjoys programming, writing poetry, and collecting fountain pens.

Kai Sun is a Postdoc Research Associate in the GeoAI Lab. Previously, he was a visiting PhD student in the GeoAI Lab from 2019 to 2021. He obtained his B.S. from Wuhan University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His current research focuses on using GeoAI approaches for disaster management.

Ryan Zhenqi Zhou is a Graduate Research Assistant in the GeoAI Lab and a PhD student in the Department of Geography at the University at Buffalo (UB). He is interested in GeoAI, Disaster Resilience, Public Health, Urban Analytics, and Human Mobility.

Jiyeon Kim is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography at the University at Buffalo (UB). Her research interests include GeoAI, human mobility, disaster resilience, and wildfires. She has research experience in image processing and deep learning models. She obtained her M.S. and B.S. from Ewha Womans University.

Jocelyn Zheng is a research intern in the GeoAI Lab and a high school student at Blind Brook High School in New York. She is interested in using machine learning and geospatial data to create a more sustainable environment! Currently, she is researching the use of geospatial foundation models for disaster management efforts.

Wei Liu completed her M.S. in GIScience in Summer 2023. During her study in the GeoAI Lab, she focused on taking courses and developing her technical skills in GIS and machine learning. She was also involved in the NSF project on using GeoAI approaches for extracting location descriptions from disaster-related social media messages. After graduation, she works as a GIS specialist for the City of Atlanta.

Yue Ma completed her M.S. in GIScience in Spring 2023. During her study in the GeoAI Lab, she conducted a research project on using GeoAI to forecast vegetation dynamics in a global biodiversity hotspot, the Cape Floristic Region in South Africa. After graduation, she joins the University of Maryland, College Park as a PhD student.

Tev’ye Davis completed his M.S. in GIScience in Spring 2023. During his study in the GeoAI Lab, he focused on taking courses and developing his technical skills in GIS, remote sensing, and machine learning. After graduation, he joins the Osmose Utilities company as a GIS specialist.

Aleema H Arastu completed her B.S. in GIScience in Summer 2022. She took multiple courses with Dr. Hu, including Introduction to GIS, Web-based GIS, and GIS and Machine Learning. She is interested in using GIS to address challenges in climate science, ecosystem biodiversity, and sustainable communities.

Ting Chang completed her M.S. in GIScience in Summer 2021. During her study in the GeoAI Lab, she conducted a research project on using human mobility data and machine learning for understanding alcohol outlet visits and alcohol-related harms.

Jimin Wang completed his M.S. in GIScience in Summer 2020. During his study in the GeoAI Lab, he conducted a research project on developing GeoAI models for extracting location descriptions from social media messages posted during natural disasters.

Dale Sherman completed his B.S. in GIScience in Summer 2017. He worked with Dr. Hu during his undergraduate study on GIS.

Dylan Witucki completed his B.S. in GIScience in Summer 2017. He worked with Dr. Hu during his undergraduate study on GIS.