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). He is also a Faculty Associate of the Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS). Dr. Li is a broadly trained GIScientist with research focusing on geospatial big data analytics, spatial computing, and geospatial AI. By developing and synthesizing advanced geospatial methods and computing technologies, his research aims to advance knowledge discovery and decision making to address a broad range of geographic questions about hazards, public health, population mobility, environment and climate change. Through his teaching and advising, Dr. Li seeks to equip the next generation of GIScientists and geographers with strong problem-solving skills through the integration of spatial thinking and computational thinking.
Dr. Li has published more than 120 peer-reviewed journal articles, the majority of which were published with his students and postdoctoral researchers in top tier international journals in GIScience. His research is supported by over $2.3 million in funding directly allocated to him from grants awarded by NIH, NSF, NASA, the Taylor Geospatial Institute, among others. His recent NIH R21 award focuses on developing and testing a nationwide obesogenic environment measurement tool at multiple geographic levels using cellphone-based place visitation data (geospatial big data) and individual level body mass index (electronic health record or EHR data). 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). He also sits on the editorial board of three international journals including the Cartography and Geographic Information Science. Previously, 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 was the founding director of 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 was named one of the Geospatial World 50 Rising Stars by Geospatial Media and Communications in 2021. He is also the recipient of the prestigious inaugural Raskin Scholarship from Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP).