Biography

I am a geographer with research interests in coupled human and natural systems, land use change, forest conservation, and household livelihoods. I use spatial data such as satellite observations and socioeconomic data collected from household surveys to examine when, where, how and why land use and land cover change. My methodology integrates statistical models, agent-based models, remote sensing algorithms, and machine learning techniques to answer questions that address the urgent needs towards achieving sustainability goals such as ecosystem conservation and food security.


Interests
  • Coupled nature and human systems
  • Land use and land cover change
  • Payments for ecosystem services
  • Forest conservation
  • Remote sensing
  • Agent-based modeling
Education
  • Ph.D. in Geography, 2017

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  • M.A. in Geography, 2014

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  • B.A. in Resources and Environment, 2011

    Zhejiang University

Experiences

 
 
 
 
 
Research Assistant Professor
2023 – Present Chapel Hill, NC
 
 
 
 
 
Managing Editor
2022 – Present Elsevier
 
 
 
 
 
Research Scientist
2019 – 2021 Boston, MA
Social-ecological systems from local to global scales (Mentors: Christoph Nolte, Anthony Janetos)
 
 
 
 
 
Research Associate
2017 – 2018 Chapel Hill, NC
Coupled human and natural systems and conservation policy (Mentors: Conghe Song, Richard E. Bilsborrow)