Fuzhen Yin, PhD

• Geographical Information Science (GIScience)
• Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI)
• Urban Complexity and Agent-Based Modeling
• Social Network Analysis
• Crisis Response, Informatics and Disaster Resilience
• Urban Geography

• PhD, Urban and Regional Planning, University at Buffalo, 2024
• MRes, Spatial Data Science and Visualization, CASA, University College London, UK, 2020
• National Diploma of Landscape Architect, National Superior School of Architecture and Landscape of Bordeaux, France, 2019
• BEng, Urban Planning, Tianjin University, China, 2017

• Geovisualization (GES 4070/5070)

• Yin, L., Yin, F., & Silverman, R. M. (2024). Rethinking demolition plans to fight neighborhood blight in shrinking cities: Applying agent-based policy simulations. Cities, 150, 105035.
• Yin, F., Crooks, A., & Yin, L. (2024). How information propagation in hybrid spaces affects decision-making: using ABM to simulate Covid-19 vaccine uptake. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 1-27.
• Frimpong Boamah, E., Yin, F., Korosh, Z., Raja, S., Mui, Y., Bohm, M., DeHonney, A., Williams, R., & Ramos-Gerena, C. (2024). Mapping the invisible: Bridging and trusting networks in sustaining the urban food system. Cities, 146, 104750.
• Wang, C., Yin, F., Zhao, Y., & Yin, L. (2023). Making Transportation Systems in US Cities Smarter and More Inclusive: A Synthesis of Challenges and Evaluation of Strategies. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 12(2), 72.
• Yin, F., Crooks, A., & Yin, L. (2022). Information propagation on cyber, relational, and physical spaces about Covid-19 vaccine: Using social media and splatial framework. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 101887.
• Yin, L., Yin, F., & Silverman, R. M. (2022). Spatial clustering of property abandonment in shrinking cities: A case study of targeted demolition in Buffalo, NY’s African American neighborhoods. Urban Geography, 1–20.

• 2024 - Student Poster Awards, University Consortium for Geographic Information Science
• 2024 - ICA Scholarship, International Cartographic Association
• 2024 - Student Excellence Award, Urban and Regional Planning, University at Buffalo
• 2023 - Best Paper Award, Conference of The Computational Social Science Society of the Americas
• 2023 - 2nd Place Poster Competition, University Consortium for Geographic Information Science
• 2020 - Presidential Fellowship, University at Buffalo
• 2019 - French National Landscape Architect Diploma, Ministry of Culture, France

• Reviewer
  • Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science
  • Journal of Planning Education and Research (JPER)
  • International Journal of Geographical Information Science (IJGIS)

Fuzhen Yin Curriculum Vitae.pdf

What do you value and care about outside of your professional duties?

I care about people who are in my near social circles, local communities, and also those I have never met, but I read their stories through news articles or on social media. This motivates my research to explore spatial social networks and human dynamics.

What encouraged you to go into (and stay in) higher education?

I enjoy working in academia because it gives me the autonomy in terms of when to do research about what topics and with whom. Additionally, it is diverse and vibrant, where I can constantly learn new stuff through interacting with students and colleagues.

What are your own professional goals and aspirations?

I hope to become a good teacher by teaching students cutting-edge GIScience. Most importantly, I aim to provoke new thoughts among students about what future they want to live and how geographical knowledge, thinking, and practices can make it come true. I also want to be a good researcher by developing new techniques in spatial simulation and GeoAI, and applying them to improve urban resilience. More about my research can be found here: https://www.gis-social.org/.

What is your favorite place?

I like all the places where I have lived for a while. Some parts of them become good memories and form my vision about what good cities look like. For instance, I like Colorado Springs, its stunning landscape, close human-nature connections, and healthy lifestyle. I like Buffalo for its diversity, resilience, and solidarity. My hometown, Shijiazhuang, is a walkable city where people can bike or take public transit everywhere.