Current Research Team
Dr. Yan Wang
Director
Dr Wang’s interdisciplinary research explores the intersection of urban resilience and urban analytics. She seeks to answer how urban resilience can be measured, explained, and enhanced within built and digital communities, particularly focusing on the role of spatial planning and crisis informatics. As one of the founding faculty of the FIBER and the leadership team for the new Urban Analytics programs at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at DCP, her research, teaching, and service contribute to both the built environment resilience and AI initiatives significantly.
Dr. Shangde Gao (LinkedIn: Link) is a Postdoctoral Associate in Urban and Regional Planning and FIBER in the College of Design, Construction, and Planning at UF. His research leverages data-driven and AI technologies to examine risks and resilience at individual and community levels in response to extreme weather events and climate change. He also explores crisis informatics and designs strategies for targeted misinformation mitigation during emerging events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the mentoring from Dr. Yan Wang, Shangde has contributed to several notable projects, including an NSF SaTC project (Award #2323794), an NSF RAPID project (Award #2028012), a Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC) Pilot Study, and a Natural Hazards Center Weather Ready Research initiative. Shangde has earned his Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from UF in 2024, following his bachelor’s degree in Engineering Management from the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), Beijing, China, in 2019.
Ziyi Guo is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master of Urban and Regional Planning after earning her Bachelor’s degree with a major in urban management. She interned in multiple planning agencies, including the China Academy of Urban Planning & Design. Her previous research experiences include dynamic analysis based on GIS visualization, affordable housing, etc. Her current research interests narrow to urban resilience, sustainable development, and urban informatics. She enjoys traveling and workout for fitness.
Graduated Students and Previous Research Team Contributors:
Haiyan Hao, Ph.D. LinkedIn Haiyan was a previous lab team member graduated in 2023 spring. She is now working as a tenure-track assistant professor in the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) in the division of Computational Social Science. Her research focused on leveraging advanced analytics and computing approaches to empower human communities in tackling the varied social and environmental challenges, such as technology disruptions and extreme events. Dr. Hao will continue contributing to smart & resilient communities with research planned in the following directions: (1) conducting big data analyses to understand complex urban dynamics and phenomenon; (2) developing digital twin as a tool supporting public service, urban management, and urban planning; and (3) exploring unequal technology innovations across social groups and geography, and developing strategies to mitigating the negative impacts.
Fang Yao, PhD
Fang is a graduated PhD student in Urban and Regional Planning, and she also pursued her master’s degree in Computer Science at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on urban computing and land use modeling using machine learning techniques, especially natural language processing methods. She is an expert in Geographic Information System and python programming. She also has rich experience in data analysis and visualization. Fang enjoys traveling in her spare time.
Changjie Chen, PhD
Changjie was a PhD graduate in Design, Construction, and Planning. He earned his Master degrees in both Statistics and Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida. His research emphasizes on exploring future land-use alternatives through geospatial analysis and parallel computation. He is also interested in applications of machine learning algorithms to the integrated modeling of transportation and land use. His expertise includes land use analysis, Python in spatial analysis, R in statistical analysis, PostGIS/PostgreSQL Server and GIS Web Server. In his spare time, he enjoys basketball, soccer, video game, and guitar.
Lian Plass, Master Student
Lian is currently a MURP degree candidate at the University of Florida with an interest in brownfield/infill development and resilience-building. Prior to attending the University of Florida, Lian obtained a Bachelors of Arts in Sustainable Development from Columbia University, and served as Sustainability Administrator for the City of North Miami for approximately two years. In her free time, Lian enjoys cycling, running, and painting.
Silas Achidago, Master’s Student: Silas is a master’s student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) program at the University of Florida. He obtained his Bachelor’s in Human Settlement Planning at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. While in Ghana, he worked in the GIS unit of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority. He currently works on a NASA/USAID funded project with a team of researchers from UF on the Ghana Land Use Project (GALUP). Silas is interested in pursuing his research in land use modelling and smart city development. He enjoys watching and playing soccer and basketball.
Tian Gao, Master’s Student LinkedIn Tian is a master’s student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida. His academic and professional focus lies in urban analytics, transportation planning, and urban sustainable development. During his time at UF, Tian participated in the UFIBER project WebLUCIS, where he contributed to the development of a GIS-based land use scenario tool. His thesis research explores road network planning strategies to address urban sprawl and promote sustainable urban growth. Tian also completed an internship at Sarasota County Breeze Transit, where he worked on optimizing transit service areas and developing a bus stop prioritization system based on data-driven criteria. His experiences have strengthened his expertise in GIS, Python-based spatial analysis, and transportation planning methodologies. Outside of his studies, Tian enjoys photography, traveling, and working out to stay active and creative.