Dr. Zhenlong Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the Pennsylvania State University where he leads the Geoinformation and Big Data Research Laboratory (GIBD). His primary research focuses on geospatial big data analytics, spatial computing, and GeoAI with applications to disaster management, public health, human mobility, and climate change. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, most of which appeared in top-tier international journals in GIScience, receiving over 5,000 citations. His research has been supported by numerous grants from NIH, NSF, NASA and NOAA among others.
Dr. Li currently serves as an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Digital Earth (Taylor & Francis) and International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (Elsevier) and sits on the Editorial Board of 3 international journals. He served as the Chair of the AAG Cyberinfrastructure Specialty Group, co-Chair of ESIP Cloud Computing Group, and the Board of Director of the International Association of Chinese Professionals in GIScience (CPGIS).
Prior to joining Penn State, Dr. Li was an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of South Carolina where he directed the Center for GIScience and Geospatial Big Data (CeGIS) and GIBD lab. He received B.S. in GIScience from Wuhan University in 2006, and Ph.D. (with distinction) in Geography and Geoinformation Sciences from George Mason University in 2015. Dr. Li was recognized as a Breakthrough Star by USC in 2020 and selected as one of the Geospatial World 50 Rising Stars by the Geospatial Media and Communications in 2021.