DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY
and DATA SCIENCE INSTITUTE (DSI)

PRESENTING:  SHAOWEN WANG

Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science,
University of Illinois

EXPLORING THE FRONTIERS OF CYBERGIS AND GEOSPATIAL DATA SCIENCE

***PLEASE NOTE NEW TIME AND LOCATION***

Geospatial data science represents an emerging interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary field intersecting among three broad knowledge domains: geospatial sciences and technologies, mathematical and statistical sciences, and cyberinfrastructure and computational sciences. The core of this intersection encompasses the synergies and interactions between big data and cyberGIS (that is, geographic information science and systems (GIS) based on advanced computing and cyberinfrastructure) with geospatial principles guiding discovery and innovation. This presentation explores the frontiers of cyberGIS and geospatial data science with several fundamental research problems
addressed while a set of challenges and opportunities are identified for synergistically advancing geospatial discovery and innovation. The presentation discusses how such advances are transforming data science education and research.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Shaowen Wang is a Professor and Head of the Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science; Richard and Margaret Romano Professorial Scholar; and an Affiliate Professor of the Department of Computer Science, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, and School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He has served as Founding Director of the CyberGIS Center for Advanced Digital and Spatial Studies at UIUC since 2013. He served as Associate Director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) for CyberGIS from 2010 to 2017 and Lead of NCSA’s Earth and Environment Theme from 2014 to
2017. His research interests include geographic information science and systems (GIS), advanced cyberinfrastructure and cyberGIS, complex environmental and geospatial problems, computational and data sciences, high-performance and distributed computing, and spatial analysis and modeling. His research has been actively supported by a number of U.S. government agencies and industry. He received a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Tianjin University, an M.S. in Geography from Peking University, and a Master of Computer Science and a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Iowa.