Yifan Yang

Yifan Yang

Yifan Yang

🗨 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.

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📖 Educations

Texas A&M University
Ph.D. in Geography, Aug. 2024 – Present
Advisor: Prof. Lei Zou, GEAR Lab
University of Southern California
M.S. in Spatial Data Science, Aug. 2022 – May 2024
Advisors: Prof. John Wilson, Prof. Siqin Wang
Hainan University
B.S. in Software Engineering, Aug. 2018 – May 2022
Advisor: Prof. Jieren Cheng

💻 Experiences

Texas A&M University
Graduate Research Assistant, Jan. 2025 – Present
Advisor: Prof. Lei Zou, GEAR Lab
Texas A&M University
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Aug. 2024 – Dec. 2024
GEOG232, lab sections 501, 502, 505
University of Southern California
Master Student Researcher, Sept. 2023 – Apr. 2024
USC Urban Trees Initiative
Advisors: Prof. John Wilson, Prof. Yi Qi, Beau MacDonald

📕 Publications

Computers, Environment and Urban Systems
Hyperlocal Disaster
Hyperlocal Disaster Damage Assessment Using Bi-temporal Street-view Imagery and Pre-trained Vision Models — Yang, Yifan, Lei Zou, Bing Zhou, Daoyang Li, Binin Lin, Joynal Abedin, Mengyang Yang. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, Volume 115, 102318, 2025.
Applied Sciences
GeoLocator
GeoLocator: A Location-Integrated Large Multimodal Model (LMM) for Inferring Geo-Privacy — Yang, Yifan, Siqin Wang, Daoyang Li, Shuju Sun, Qingyang Wu. Applied Sciences, 14(16), 7091, 2024.

🏘 Presentation

  • AAG Annual Meetings
  • 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
  • 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

  • 2025 CaGIS International Travel Grant - 2025 ICC, Vancouver, Canada
  • 2025 International Cartographic Conference (ICC), Vancouver, Canada — Best Student Paper Award
  • 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

📺 Media Coverage

🌎 Miscellaneous

I enjoy basketball, football, and following international sports. My favorite player is Messi.