🗨 About Me
My name is Yifan Yang, and I am a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography at Texas A&M University. I have the honor of working with my advisor, Dr. Lei Zou, in the Geospatial Exploration and Resolution (GEAR) Lab. My research focuses on the integration of Spatial Science and GeoAI—utilizing GIS & Remote Sensing for mapping and analyzing geographic patterns, exploring Disaster Resilience, understanding Climate Change impacts, and investigating Public Health. I am also deeply committed to Responsible GIS and GeoAI, particularly in enhancing Explainable GeoAI for improved interpretability in decision-making.
Before entering PhD studies, I earned a master’s degree in Spatial Data Science from the University of Southern California. During my master’s, I worked with Dr. John P. Wilson on the Urban Trees Initiative, and received invaluable guidance from Dr. Siqin Wang.
Prior to graduate school, I received a bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from Hainan University in China. I hope to use computer science and spatial science to make a positive contribution to the world. I’m also an AI4Science enthusiast, and my hobbies are basketball🏀, football⚽, poker🎴, and talk shows🎆.
Research interests: Autonomous GeoAI Science, Spatial Data Science, GeoAI, AI4Science, GIScience.
📖 Educations
Ph.D. in Geography, Aug. 2024 – Present
Advisor: Prof. Lei Zou, GEAR Lab
M.S. in Spatial Data Science, Aug. 2022 – May 2024
Advisors: Prof. John Wilson, Prof. Siqin Wang
B.S. in Software Engineering, Aug. 2018 – May 2022
Advisor: Prof. Jieren Cheng
💻 Experiences
Graduate Research Assistant, Jan. 2025 – Present
Advisor: Prof. Lei Zou, GEAR Lab
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Aug. 2024 – Dec. 2024
GEOG232, lab sections 501, 502, 505
Master Student Researcher, Sept. 2023 – Apr. 2024
USC Urban Trees Initiative
Advisors: Prof. John Wilson, Prof. Yi Qi, Beau MacDonald
📕 Publications
🏘 Presentation
- American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, March 24 – 28, 2025, Detroit (Session 23561, Session 23718, Detail 82104, Detail 83465)
- Spatial Data Science Symposium: Thematic Session, Geoprivacy Challenges and Solutions in the Digital Society (Session Details)
- The Symposium on Spatiotemporal Data Science, Pre-symposium Training Workshop, Washington DC, July 22, 2024 (online) (Event Page)
- American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, April 16 – 20, 2024, Honolulu, Hawai'i (Session 7825)
- AGI Leap Summit 2024, Multimodality, Paper Presentation, SuperAGI, February 29, 2024 (Virtual) (Summit Website)
- 2024 Los Angeles Geospatial Summit, February 23, 2024, Los Angeles, CA ( Event Article )
👑 Partial Honors
- 2025 AAG-GISSG Student Honors Paper Competition — Honorable Mention (Top 5)
- 2025 AAG Applied Geography Specialty Group — Student Travel Award
- Lifetime Membership — Nu Theta Chapter, Gamma Theta Upsilon (International Geographic Honor Society)
- 2024 Los Angeles Geospatial Summit — ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition: Most Suitably Applied Analysis Methodology
- DNIIT (Performance: Excellent)
- Second Runner-up — 9th China International "Internet+" College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition (Shanghai Division) — International Project Category ("Youguang Ushine – AI+ Multilingual Talent Service Platform")
- National First Prize — 2020 Computer Design Competition for Chinese College Students (Big Data Practice)
- Third Prize — 10th MathorCup College Mathematical Modeling Challenge (2020)
- Second Prize — 13th "Certification Cup" Mathematics China Mathematical Modeling Network Challenge (Inner Mongolia Region, 2020)
- Third Prize — China–US Youth Creators Competition (Haikou Region, 2020)
- Second Prize — 3rd China Youth Cup National University Student Mathematical Modeling Competition (2020)
- Third Prize — 6th National Mobile Internet Innovation Competition (South China Region)
- Third Prize — Innovation Group of the 2020 China University Computer Competition (Artificial Intelligence Track)
- Third Prize — Finalist, Hainan Selection Competition of the 4th China Creative Wings Innovation Competition (2020)
- Honorable Mention — 2020 Hainan Free Trade Port Entrepreneurship Competition
- Silver Award — Hainan Creative Group, 6th China International "Internet+" Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
- Bronze Prize — Hainan Region, Challenge Cup Student Entrepreneurship Plan Competition (2020)
- Second Prize — 14th iCAN International Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition (South China Region)
- First-Class Comprehensive Scholarship — Hainan University
- Recognized as "College Student with the Most Innovative Spirit and Practical Ability" — Hainan University
👔 Professional Activities and Service
- BOD member of GISphere, 2024 – Present
- Student Co-Director, Remote Sensing Specialty Group, American Association of Geographers, 2025 – 2027
- Student Co-Director, Hazards, Risks, and Disasters, American Association of Geographers, 2025 – 2027
- Vice President, Association of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Hainan University, 2021 – 2022
🌎 Miscellaneous
I enjoy basketball, football, and following international sports. My favorite player is Messi.
