Zhe(Sarina) Zhang
  • Assistant Professor

Biography

Dr. Zhang is an assistant professor of the Department of Geography and an affiliate faculty of Electrical and Computing Engineering at Texas A&M University. She currently serves as a director of the Cyberinfrastructure and Spatial Decision Intelligence research group at Texas A&M University and a council member of the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System. She is the past chair of the Cyberinfrastructure Specialty group at the American Association of Geographers. She also leads the CyberGIS and Decision Support Systems research initiative at the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science.

Her research and teaching interests broadly include geographical information science and systems (GIS), cyberinfrastructure and cyberGIS, geospatial artificial intelligence, and human-centered decision-making. Her research focuses on advancing cyberinfrastructure and geospatial data science to provide data-intensive solutions to complex human-environment interaction problems, sustainability, and disaster resilience challenges.

She has received research funding from several U.S. federal and state agencies such as NSF, NOAA, NASA, US DOT, National Geographic Society, and Texas Department of State Health Services, and served as principal, co-principal, and co-investigator for over $18 million in research grants. She has published peer-reviewed articles in several leading GIS-related journals, such as the International Journal of Geographic Information Science, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Transactions in GIS, and the International Journal of Digital Earth. She has served as a guest editor of Transactions in GIS and an associate editor of Computational Urban Science.

In recognition of her impactful research outcomes and outstanding education and outreach records, Dr. Zhang received a National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2023!

Dr. Zhe Zhang is actively recruiting MS and Ph.D. graduate students as well as visiting scholars to join the Cyberinfrastructure and Spatial Decision Intelligence (CIDI-Spatial) research group at Texas A&M. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Zhe Zhang via email zhezhang@tamu.edu.

Courses

GEOG 678 - Web GIS (online & in class)

GEOG 660 - Applications in GIS (online)

GEOG 665 - GIS Modeling (online)

GEOG 695 - Frontiers in GIScience (in class) 

GEOG392/676 - GIS Programming (In class, Fall 2020) 

Research Interests

  • Geographic Information Science
  • Cyberinfrastructure and CyberGIS
  • Geospatial Artificial Intelligence
  • Decision Science
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Sustainability
  • Disaster Management

Educational Background

  • 2016 Doctor of Science (with distinction) in Geoinformatics, minored in applied mathematics, Department of Built Environment, Aalto University (before Helsinki University of Technology), Finland
  • 2009 Master of Science (Technology) in Geomatics, Department of Surveying, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
  • 2005 Bachelor of Environmental Engineering, Tampere University of Applied Sciences

Selected Publications

  • *Graduate Student Paper; #Corresponding Author

    • Zhang, Z., King*, J., Wang, S., Sinton, D., Wilson, J., & Shook, E. (2024). Moving CyberGIS education forward: Knowing what matters and how it is decided. Transactions in GIS. https://doi.org/10.1111/tgis.13225
    • Song*, Z., Zhang#, Z., Tao, J., Chapman, P., Chang, P., Gao, H., Liu, H., Brannstrom, C., (2024). Mapping the Unheard: Analyzing Trade-Offs between Fisheries and Offshore Wind Farms Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. Annals of the American Association of Geographer, https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2023.2285371.
    • Li*, D., Thompson, C., Behzadan, A., Meyer, M., Gao, H., Zhang#, Z. (2023) A Reinforcement
      Learning-based Routing Algorithm for Large Street Networks. International Journal of
      Geographical Information Science,38 (2), 183-215
    • Li*, D., & Zhang#, Z. (2023). MetaQA: Enhancing human-centered data search using
      Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) language model and artificial intelligence.
      Plos one, 18(11), e0293034.
    • Alizadeh, B., Li*, D., Hillin, J., Meyer, M. A., Thompson, C. M., Zhang, Z., & Behzadan, A. H. (2022).
      Human-centered flood mapping and intelligent routing through augmenting flood gauge data with
      crowdsourced street photos. Advanced Engineering Informatics, 54, 101730.
      https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2022.101730
    • Li*, D., Chaudhary, H., and Zhang, Z., (2020). Modeling Spatiotemporal Pattern of Depressive
      Symptoms Caused by COVID-19 Using Social Media Data Mining. International Journal of
      Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(14), 4988.
      https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17144988
    • Armstrong, M., Wang., S., and Zhang., Z., (2018). The Internet of Things and fast data streams:
      prospects for geospatial data science in emerging information ecosystems.
      Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 46(1), 39-56.
      https://doi.org/10.1080/15230406.2018.1503973
    • Zhang, Z., Hu, H., Yin, D., Kashem, S., Li, R., Cai, H., Perkins, D., and Wang, S., (2018).
      A CyberGIS-enabled multi-criteria spatial decision support system: a case study on flood
      emergency management. International Journal of Digital Earth, 12(11), 1364-1381. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538947.2018.1543363
    • Zhang, Z., Demsǎ, U., Wang, S., and Virrantaus, K., (2018). A spatial fuzzy influence diagram for modelling spatial objects’ dependencies: a case study on tree-related electric outages. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 32(2), 349-366. https://doi.org/10.1080/13658816.2017.1385789
    • Zhang, Z., Demsǎ, U., Rantala, J., and Virrantaus, K., (2014). A fuzzy multiple- attribute decision making modelling for vulnerability analysis on the basis of population information for disaster management. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 28(9), 1922-1939. https://doi.org/10.1080/13658816.2014.908472

     

Ongoing Projects

  1. National Science Foundation: CyberTraining:Implementation: Small: Broadening Adoption of Cyberinfrastructure and Research Workforce Development for Disaster Management, #2321069, 2023-2026, Principal Investigator, $454,847 for Dr. Zhang. Project Website: https://www.ctdm.org/ https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2339174&HistoricalAwards=false
  2. National Science Foundation: CAREER: A Cyberinfrastructure Enabled Hybrid Spatial Decision Support System for Improving Coastal Resilience to Flood Risks, #2339174, 2024-2029, Sole Principal Investigator, $568,302 for Dr. Zhang. Project Website: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2339174&HistoricalAwards=false
  3. National Science Foundation: CC* Data Storage: FASTER Data Infrastructure to Accelerate Computing, # 2322377, 2023-2025, Co-Principal Investigator $499,527
  4. National Science Foundation: Category II: ACES - Accelerating Computing for Emerging Sciences, #2112356, 2021-2023, Co-Investigator, $12,249,999

 

Completed External Projects

  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: A Hybrid Decision Support System for Driving Resiliency in Texas Coastal Communities, #NA18OAR4170088, 2020-2023, Co-Principal Investigator, $299,995 Project Website: https://blupix.geos.tamu.edu/Home
  • National Science Foundation: Collaborative Research: Conference: Geospatial Cyberinfrastructure Workshop: Building High-Performance, Ethical, and Secured Geospatial Software, # 2330330, 2023, Principal Investigator, $25,020 to Dr. Zhang
  • National Science Foundation: Convergence Accelerator Track E: Combining high-resolution climate simulations with ocean biogeochemistry, fisheries and decision-making models to improve sustainable fisheries, # 2137684, 2021-2024, Principal Investigator, $749,548 Project Website: https://sustainableblue.geos.tamu.edu/
  • National Science Foundation: MRI: Acquisition of FASTER - Fostering Accelerated Sciences Transformation Education and Research, #2019129, 2020-2024, $3,090,000
  • National Geographic Society: Texas Youth Geography Network: Spatial Learning Tools for Advancing Youth Geography Education, 2021-2024, Principal Investigator, $42,978
  • US Department of Transportation: Impact of COVID-19 Induced Active Transportation Demand on the Built Environment and Public Health, 2021-2022, $90,000
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration: A Spatial Decision Support System for Identifying Heat Vulnerability in Oklahoma City, 2022-2024, Institutional Principal Investigator, $149,163

 

Selected Media Coverage