University of Florida Homepage

Geography Colloquium: Harnessing Geospatial Sciences and Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Service Assessments

Poster advertising the 16 November colloquium with Doctor Chang Zhao. All text is repeated on the webpage.Speaker: Dr. Chang Zhao
Assistant Professor
Agronomy Department
University of Florida

Thursday, November 16, 2023
3:00-3:50 PM (Period 8)

Recorded for YouTube

Turlington Hall 3018 and Zoom
University of Florida

Abstract: Human health and well-being are closely tied to the environment, which provides goods and benefits such as food, clean water, clean air, also known as ecosystem services. These include provisioning services such as food and forage products; regulating services that regulate climate, air and water quality; supporting services needed to maintain other services, and cultural services that provide recreation, aesthetic, and spiritual benefits. Recent strides in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the growing availability of geospatial data have empowered large-scale, automated, and timely mapping and monitoring of ecosystems, facilitating assessments of ecosystem services. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of the potential applications of geospatial sciences, remote sensing, machine learning, and deep learning in addressing research gaps related to ecosystem services. Additionally, I will show current research progress aimed at constructing AI-ready geospatial datasets for the quantification and mapping of ecosystem components, structures, ecosystem services, and biodiversity on a large scale.

Biography: Dr. Zhao is an Assistant Professor of Ecosystem Services Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the University of Florida. Her research interests include Geographic Information Science, Remote Sensing, Geovisualization, Ecosystem Service Assessments, and AI (Machine Learning and Deep Learning). Her research and extension programs are interdisciplinary and employ a wide range of geospatial, statistical, and AI tools, as well as observational, modeling, and mixed approaches.

All are welcome to attend.

For more information, email Dr. Cynthia Simmons at cssimmons@ufl.edu