New Cohort of PhD Scholars Ready to Embark on Geographical Sciences Critical Questions
With great excitement, we introduce the latest wave of brilliant minds joining our Ph.D. program.
Hailing from Oregon, USA, to Ningbo, China, these students share a common drive: to dedicate the next years of their lives to gaining a better understanding of the world we live in.
Get inspired by their passion for geographical sciences!
Adebowale Daniel Adebayo
Call me: Adebowale
My city, country: Ekiti, Nigeria
My research topic: Food and Water Security Nexus with methods in Earth Observations and AI
My advisor: Catherine Nakalembe
My educational background: BTech. Remote Sensing and GIS, Federal University of Akure, Nigeria, MS. Erasmus Mundus Copernicus Master in Digital Earth (GeoData Science Track) [University of Salzburg, Austria & Université de Bretagne Sud, Vannes, France]
What attracted me to geographical sciences: "Everything is related to everything else..." - Tobler's first law of geography. First, the art and science of location intelligence, and second, the vast applications of remote sensing products to humanity.
What I like to do when I am not studying: swimming, Jigsaw puzzles (smaller pieces because of time), traveling, trying new food and music
Mohammad Aghdami Nia
Call me: Mohammad
My city, country: Tabriz, Iran
My research topic: Lidar Remote Sensing and AI
My advisor: Ralph Dubayah
My educational background: B.Sc. Geomatics Engineering, University of Tabriz, Iran
M.Sc. Remote Sensing, University of Tehran, Iran
What attracted me to geographical sciences: Remote sensing and its applications
What I like to do when I am not studying: Playing guitar, listening to music, hiking
Abena Boatemaa Asare-Ansah
Call me: Abena
My city, country: Accra, Ghana
My research topic: Mapping Agricultural LCLUC Dynamics and Green Infrastructure using Geospatial Techniques
My advisor: Catherine Nakalembe
My educational background: BS, Geomatic Engineering at KNUST, Ghana & MS, Urban Forestry at SUBR, Louisiana, USA
What attracted me to geographical sciences: The broad research in Remote Sensing and GIS
What I like to do when I am not studying: Cooking, listening to music
Kangyang Chai
Call me: /kaŋ jaŋ/ in IPA
My city, country: Ningbo, China
My research topic: Artificial Intelligence methods related to spatial data and remote sensing image
My advisor: Yiqun Xie
My educational background: BS, Geographical Information Science at Zhejiang University.
What attracted me to geographical sciences: There are numerous challenges to be solved in the field of geospatial analysis, and many prevailing mainstream methods appear less than optimal.
What I like to do when I am not studying: Cycling, cooking, sampling the delicacies from various restaurants, watching Premier League and I enjoy trying new activities.
Xin Dong
Call me: Xin
My city, country: Xinyang, China
My research topic: Spatial Health, Malaria Analysis
My advisor: Kathleen Stewart
My educational background: MS, GIS and Application; BS, Surveying and Mapping
What attracted me to geographical sciences: Geospatial health is an important issue related to people's health and needs to be explored.
What I like to do when I am not studying: Swimming, traveling, listening to music
Robyn Burnett
Call me: Robyn Burnett
My city, country: Maryland, USA
My research topic: Education, Whole Population Studies
My advisor: Laixiang Sun
My educational background: BS-Economics Villanova, MS Economics-The New School, Additional work at: McDaniel College, ICEP-Europe
What attracted me to geographical sciences: GS is a methodology for bringing information together based on location. It is generally the last thing considered in education research, which is a problem as education is primarily delivered based on a students location.
What I like to do when I am not studying: I crochet, A LOT. (My instagram is all just my crochet and mushrooms). I have a great community I live in. We have a Mah Jongg Club and an Arts and Crafts club I participate in as well. I like to travel (mostly road trips) with my family, so I can get out of the car and tromp around in the woods/mountains. I am a bit sports obsessed, NCAA Basketball in particular (proud member of the NovaNation).
Atreyi Guin
Call me: Atreyi (Ah-tray-ee)
My city, country: Kolkata, India
My research topic: Land use land cover change, data visualization
My advisor: Matt Hansen
My educational background: MS Environmental Science, GIS Certificate at University of Michigan Dearborn
What attracted me to geographical sciences: The power of communicating complex spatial datasets through stunning maps and visuals which helps the community.
What I like to do when I am not studying: I love to dance! I also like traveling and trying out new restaurants :)
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Shuyu Jin
Call me: Shuyu
My city, country: Chongqing, China
My research topic: Climate Change Adaptation, Public Health, Disaster Resilience
My advisor: Giovanni Baiocchi
My educational background:BS Geographical Science, MS GIS
What attracted me to geographical sciences: Geographical Sciences encompass both natural and cultural interactions. When intertwined with concepts of location, space, and scale, they guide the choice between broad or micro-level research. This fascination drives my interest in Geographical Sciences.
What I like to do when I am not studying: Travel, listening to music
Yue Ma
Call me: Yue
My city, country: Zhengzhou, China
My research topic: energy mapping, deep learning
My advisor: Xiaopeng Song
My educational background: M.S.The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.; B.S.Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China; B.Ec.Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
What attracted me to geographical sciences: An interesting way to explore the world
What I like to do when I am not studying: Reading, watching movies
Triet Nguyen
Call me: Triet
My city, country: Oregon, USA
My research topic: Flood risk assessment and mitigation
My advisor: Kuishuang Feng
My educational background: BS Finance - Portland State University; MS Applied Economics - Johns Hopkins University
What attracted me to geographical sciences: Many societal problems and their solutions require mapping to the real-world context, which Geographical Science offers. Moreover, the often resulting maps are great at communicating to the people impacted by the problem, who most likely cannot analyze facts and data in the same way a scientist can.
What I like to do when I am not studying: Learning about music, playing guitar
Wen Qi
Call me: Wen
My city, country: Zhengzhou, China
My research topic: Human lifestyle impact on environment
My advisor: Giovanni Baiocchi
My educational background: BS Finance Hunan Univ, Ms Finance UMD/Shanghai Univ of Fin&Econ
What attracted me to geographical sciences: Climate change, environment protection
What I like to do when I am not studying: Traveling
Jiaxun Sun
Call me: Jiaxun/Jason
My city, country: Weihai, China
My research topic: Sustainable development cities
My advisor: Kuishuang Feng
My educational background: MS Environmental Science, Fudan University
BA Controlled Environment Agriculture Science & Engineering, China Agricultural University
What attracted me to geographical sciences: Future research coupled with GIS, economics, environmental issues and society
What I like to do when I am not studying: Traveling, hiking, basketball, volleyball
Ruichen Wang
Call me: Ruichen
My city, country: Beijing, China
My research topic: AI for improving remote sensing data and social good.
My advisor: Yiqun Xie
My educational background: BS Environmental Science
What attracted me to geographical sciences: The potential of our cutting-edge technology has grown significantly, positioning us favorably to address social and environmental issues through the application of Geographical Science. By harnessing the state-of-the-art capabilities of artificial intelligence along with comprehensive geographical data, I am eager to elevate the standards of social welfare and environmental betterment.
What I like to do when I am not studying: Gardening, hiking
Shi Jun Wee
Call me: Shi Jun
My city, country: Singapore, Singapore
My research topic: Integrate optical and radar remote sensing data for LCLUC (e.g. crop, forest change) monitoring, with a focus in the tropics.
My advisor: Xiaopeng Song
My educational background: BS (Hons) in Environmental Earth Systems Science (Geoscience specialization)
What attracted me to geographical sciences: Remote sensing presents us with an excellent opportunity to observe the earth at unprecedented resolutions. I wish to harness this rapidly evolving technology to better understand and address the most pressing environmental issues affecting us today.
What I like to do when I am not studying: Netflix, cycling, reading, improving my cooking
Matthew Luke Wertis
Call me: Luke
My city, country: Boone, USA
My research topic: LiDAR and forest monitoring applications of LiDAR and other remote sensing instruments
My advisor: Ralph Dubayah
My educational background: BS in Applied Physics, MA in Geography
What attracted me to geographical sciences: GIS and data science
What I like to do when I am not studying: Rock climbing, reading
Images: Courtesy of our new cohort of Ph.D. students
Published on Tue, 08/29/2023 - 20:50