🗨 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 lies at the intersection of Responsible GIS and Autonomous GeoAI, where I work to develop explainable and trustworthy GeoAI systems that enhance transparency and interpretability in spatial decision-making.
🔭 Vision: To transcend the boundaries of screens and make the real world our playground of intelligence — where AI, space, and humanity coexist and co-create.
Before starting my Ph.D. 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, where I explored geospatial approaches to urban sustainability. Under the mentorship of Dr. Siqin Wang, I also completed a research internship at the Spatial Data Lab, Harvard University, which further strengthened my expertise in Geospatial AI and interdisciplinary data science.
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
📕 Selected Publications
Table of Contents
🏘 Presentation
- AAG Annual Meetings
- American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, March 24 – 28, 2025, Detroit (Session 23561, Session 23718, Detail 82104, Detail 83465)
- American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, April 16 – 20, 2024, Honolulu, Hawai'i (Session 7825)
- International Cartographic Conference (ICC)
- Student Paper Session, Vancouver, Canada, August 18–22, 2025 — Yifan Yang: Perceiving Multidimensional Disaster Damages from Street-View Images Using Visual-Language Models
- GeoAnalytics for Sustainable and Livable Cities, Vancouver, Canada, August 17, 2025 (ICC pre-conference symposium) — Yifan Yang and Lei Zou: DisasterVLP: A Vision-Language Pretrained Framework for Multidimensional Disaster Damage Assessment Using Street-View Images (Symposium Page)
- Spatial Data Science Symposium
- Thematic Session, Geoprivacy Challenges and Solutions in the Digital Society (Session Details, Watch Video)
- Spatiotemporal Data Science Symposium
- Pre-symposium Training Workshop, Washington DC, July 22, 2024 (online) (Event Page)
- AGI Leap Summit
- Multimodality, Paper Presentation, SuperAGI, February 29, 2024 (Virtual) (Summit Website)
- Los Angeles Geospatial Summit
- 2024 Los Angeles Geospatial Summit, February 23, 2024, Los Angeles, CA (Event Article)
👑 Partial Honors
- Travel Grant, Summer School on Cyberinfrastructure and Disaster Resilience, TAMU (funded by NSF), $200.
- Texas A&M Institute of Data Science (TAMIDS) Student Ambassador Scholarship, Domain Data Science Track (2025–2026 cohort), TAMU, $2,000.
- 2025 CaGIS International Travel Grant - 2025 ICC, Vancouver, Canada, $2,100.
- 2025 International Cartographic Conference (ICC), Vancouver, Canada — Best Student Paper Award
- 2025 AAG-GISSG Student Honors Paper Competition — Honorable Mention, $200. (Top 5)
- 2025 AAG Applied Geography Specialty Group — Student Travel Award, $196.
- 2024,25 Travel Grant, Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, totally $2100.
- 2024 Travel Grant(Visiting), Department of Geography, University of South Carolina, $400.
- 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
- Data Science Student Ambassador, Texas A&M Institute of Data Science (TAMIDS), 2025 – 2026
- Vice President, Association of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Hainan University, 2021 – 2022
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Reviewer for leading journals including:
- ACM Transactions on Autonomous and Adaptive Systems
- Computational Urban Science
- International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
- International Journal of Geographical Information Science
- International Journal of ITS Research
📺 Media Coverage
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🌡️ TAMU Engineering News: “Throwing Shade at Heatwaves”
Featured in a Texas A&M Engineering article highlighting my research on mitigating urban heat through shade and geospatial analysis.
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🗺️ Esri Blog: “Showcasing Innovation in GIS Education at the LA Geospatial Summit”
Esri featured my project for demonstrating innovative uses of GIS and GeoAI at the Los Angeles Geospatial Summit.
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🌎 TAMU College of Arts & Sciences: “Five Texas A&M Researchers Join National Climate-Health Initiative”
Featured as one of the five Texas A&M researchers contributing to a national effort connecting climate science and public health, highlighting my GeoAI-based research on climate resilience and environmental health.
🎬 Personal Moments — A glimpse into my journey beyond research
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🎓 USC Graduation Ceremony
A short highlight from my 2024 USC Commencement Ceremony, where I received my Master’s degree in Spatial Data Science at the University of Southern California.
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🪂 Skydiving Adventure — GoJump America
A thrilling moment from my skydiving experience in California, capturing the excitement and beauty of freefall above the Pacific Ocean.
📸 Personal Gallery — Moments That Inspire Me
🌎 Miscellaneous
I enjoy basketball, football, and following international sports. My favorite player is Messi.
