About

I currently work on geospatial technology at bp America, with a focus on enterprise geospatial systems, data engineering, workflow automation, and geospatial application development.

I recently completed my Ph.D. in Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where I was advised by Dr. Jennifer A. Miller. My research focuses on spatial data science and geographic information science, with applications in ecology, environmental systems, human–environment interactions, and geographic attribution.

Education

• (2021-2026) Ph.D. in Geography and Environmental Studies, Department of Geography and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin
• (2018-2020) M.Sc. in Geospatial Data Science, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
• (2014-2018) B.Sc. in Environmental Science, Beijing Normal University - Hong Kong Baptist University United International College

Research

• Networked PalYnology Models of Pollen and Human Systems (NYMPHS) - Department of Defense Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI)
  • Developed GeoAI frameworks for geographic attribution from pollen and biological assemblages by combining spatial data science, species distribution modeling, and deep learning across biotic, abiotic, movement, and social (BAMS) data.
  • Built language-enhanced spatial learning methods that integrate pretrained location representations, large-language-model-derived species embeddings, gated attention, contrastive learning, and globally simulated assemblages to learn geographic signatures and support zero-shot prediction for previously unseen taxa.

Peer-Reviewed Publications/Proceedings

2025

Shao Y., V. Hugo R. Prudente, J. Blesh, H. Wang, P. Rao, M. Jain (2026). Mapping Cover Crops and Winter Land Cover in Michigan Using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Imagery and Google Earth Engine. Remote Sensing. [Link]

Herrick, E., M. Jain, K. Connell, H. Wang, W. Zhou, M. Deshpande, J. Blesh (2025). Increasing crop rotation diversity with cover crops builds climate resilience on working farms. Environmental Research Letters. 20(12),124025. [Link]

Wang H., J. A. Miller (2025). Geoforensic Search Space Modeling: Applications to Documented Cases. In: Leitner, M. (eds) New Research in Crime Modeling and Mapping Using Geospatial Technologies. Geotechnologies and the Environment, 27, Springer Nature. [Link]

Melhado C., C. Hancock, H. Wang, M. Eldin, N. George, J. A. Miller, K. Remick, B. Patel, B. Yorkgitis, L. Gray, M. Dingeldein, H. Hewes, K. Russell, M. Nance, A. Jensen (2025). Pediatric Readiness and Trauma Center Access for Children. JAMA Pediatrics, 179(4):455–462. [Link]

2024

Helderop E., T. H. Grubesic, E. J. Bienenstock, S. Smith-Heisters, H. Wang, J. A. Miller (2024). Geoforensic palynology search models and human-mediated secondary pollen deposition. The Professional Geographer, 1–13. [Link]

Surdoval, A., M. Jain, E. Blaire, H. Wang, J. Blesh (2024). Financial incentive programs and farm diversification with cover crops: Assessing opportunities and challenges. Environmental Research Letters, 19(4), 044063. [Link]

2023

Wang, H., J. A. Miller, T. H. Grubesic, S. Jha (2023). Using Habitat Suitability Models for Multiscale Forensic Geolocation Analysis. Transactions in GIS, 27(3), 777–796. [Link]

Wuepper, D., H. Wang, W. Schlenker, M. Jain. R. Finger (2023). Institutions and Global Crop Yields. NBER Working Paper No. w31426. [Link]

2022

Mei, W., H. Wang, D. Fouhey, W. Zhou, I. Hinks, J. M. Gray, D. Van Berkel, M. Jain (2022). Using Deep Learning and Very-High-Resolution Imagery to Map Smallholder Field Boundaries. Remote Sensing, 14(13), 3046. [Link]

Wang, H., J. A. Miller, T. H. Grubesic, S. Jha (2022). A Framework for Using Ensemble Species Distribution Models for Geographic Attribution in Forensic Palynology. 2022 IEEE Symposium on Technologies for Homeland Security , pp. 1-7. [Link]

Presentations

• 2024 AAG Annual Meeting. 1^st Place at John Odland Student Paper Competition, Spatial Analysis and Modeling Specialty Group
• 2023 GIScience 2023. Presentation at the 12^th International Conference on Geographic Information Science
• 2023 Esri User Conference. Presentation at the GIScience Research Sessions.
• 2023 AAG Annual Meeting. Presentation at Geospatial Big Data: Theory, Methods, and Applications.
• 2022 IEEE Symposium on Technologies for Homeland Security (HST). Presentation at Border Security, Critical Infrastructure Protection & Law Enforcement.