We warmly welcome interdisciplinary collaboration on research related to, but certainly not limited to, natural hazards (e.g., wildfires and floods), earth system modeling, human mobility, social segregation, environmental justice, urban informatics, and digital agriculture. Together, we can do exciting research and projects for the societal good.
Current Collaborators
- Hydroclimate Extremes Research Group (UW-Madison)
- Digital Ag Research Lab (UW-Madison)
- Sustainable Vegetable Production and Precision Agriculture Program (UW-Madison)
- Geospatial Data Science Lab (UW-Madison)
- Wisconsin State Cartographer’s Office (UW-Madison)
- Cartography Lab (UW-Madison)
- NSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center (GMU and Harvard)
- Geoinformatics and Earth Observation Laboratory (PSU)
- Ping An US Research Lab (Industry partner)
- Waterplan (Industry partner)
Join the Team
Ph.D. Opportunity – Fall 2027
Our lab is planning to recruit one Ph.D. student for Fall 2027 admission to pursue research at the intersection of GeoAI, remote sensing, and wildfire science.
We are especially interested in candidates with a strong background in remote sensing and deep learning who are excited to advance Earth observation and address important environmental challenges. Potential research directions include:
- Wildfire modeling and GeoAI, including wildfire risk prediction, active fire detection, spread prediction, smoke modeling, and damage assessment.
- Next-generation remote sensing and Earth observation, particularly addressing fundamental limitations in the spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution of satellite observations using advanced AI/deep learning approaches, such as image super-resolution, spatiotemporal data fusion, and hyperspectral image reconstruction.
Students will have opportunities to work with multi-source satellite and geospatial data, develop cutting-edge GeoAI and deep learning methods, and translate methodological advances into solutions for important Earth and environmental science challenges.
Graduate Application Information
- Application Deadline: December 15 for admission the following Fall. The program does not offer Spring or Summer admission.
- GPA Requirement: Minimum 3.0.
- GRE Requirement: GRE scores are not required or considered for admission.
- English Proficiency Requirement: TOEFL 80–91 for tests taken before January 21, 2026, or 4.5 for tests taken on or after January 21, 2026; alternatively, IELTS 6.5.
For complete and up-to-date application requirements, please visit the UW–Madison Department of Geography’s Prospective Graduate Students page.
Hourly Student Research Opportunities
We also regularly recruit undergraduate and graduate students for hourly research positions. We welcome students interested in gaining hands-on research experience in areas such as Data Science, GIScience, Remote Sensing, GeoAI, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and Natural Language Processing.
Interested in Joining Us?
If your background and research interests align well with our work, we would be very happy to hear from you. Please email Dr. Qunying Huang at qhuang46@wisc.edu with a brief introduction to your background, research interests, and relevant experience, along with your CV. Please indicate whether you are interested in the Fall 2027 Ph.D. opportunity or an hourly student research position.
