NTU-CEE Seminar Series: Associate Professor ZHANG Zhe
Protecting coastal communities from increasing vulnerability to natural disasters and environmental challenges.
About the Seminar
Topic: Advancing Spatial Decision Support: From Participatory GIS to GeoAI
Coastal communities are facing increasing vulnerability to natural disasters and environmental challenges, including stronger hurricanes, flooding, and pressures on fisheries. Addressing these issues is important for protecting local populations and enhancing the sustainable growth of the Blue Economy.
This presentation examines how geospatial technologies, particularly participatory GIS and explainable Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI), can enhance disaster management. Topics will include case studies of participatory GIS applications in disaster management, followed by a transition to data-driven methods for developing path-faith explainable GeoAI for decision support.
By integrating causality model, our approaches enable a deeper understanding of how specific locations, time periods, and variables interact to shape predictive AI outcomes. The presentation will conclude with an overview of a newly funded National Science Foundation CyberTraining project, which aims to build a global training network for applying GeoAI in disaster management.
About the Speaker
Associate Professor Zhang Zhe, Texas A&M University
Dr. Zhe Zhang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Texas A&M University (TAMU), with joint appointments in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Texas A&M Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center. Dr. Zhang has served as Chair of the Cyberinfrastructure Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers and was elected to the Board of Directors of the Cartography and Geographic Information Society. She also serves as Chair of the Research Committee of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science. Her research focuses on developing spatial decision support systems by integrating advanced cyberinfrastructure, geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI), and participatory design to address critical challenges in disaster management and sustainability. Her work has been funded by federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Geographic Society.
Dr. Zhang serves as the Co-Principal Investigator of the Texas A&M FASTER High-Performance Supercomputer ($3 million) and as a Co-Investigator of the Texas A&M ACES Supercomputer (12 million), both supported by the NSF. In addition, she serves as Principal Investigator on eight externally funded grants, totaling over $3 million. She has published peer reviewed articles in several leading GIS-related journals, including the International Journal of Geographical Information Science, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Transactions in GIS, Cartography and Geographic Information Science, and the International Journal of Digital Earth.
She currently serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Computational Urban Science. Dr. Zhang has been honored to receive both the Pathways Award from Texas A&M Faculty Affairs and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in recognition of her impactful research. In 2026, she received Distinguished Contribution Award from Women in GIS and Esri.
Venue
CEE Seminar Room C (N1-B1b-05)