Dr. Liang Mao
Associate Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator
Google Scholar(opens in new tab)
Curriculum Vitae(opens in new tab)
Focus Areas
Research Statement
My research aims to offer better understandings on the human-disease system with geospatial science approaches and technologies. My research interests focus on: Agent-based modeling and simulation; Geospatial network analysis; Spatial accessibility and disparities, such as cancer and access to healthcare/healthy food.
Recent Courses
- GEO3452/6451: Intro. to Medical Geography
- GEO4930 Senior Seminar
- GIS3420C/6425C: GIS Models for Public Health
- GIS4113/6104: Spatial networks
- GIS4115/6117: Applied Geostatistics
Recent Funded Projects
- 2018-2020. PI. National Research Council Transportation Research Board. Phase 2: The role of air travel in the transmission and spread of insect-borne diseases ($14,692).
- 2016-2018. PI. UF Informatics Institute Seed Fund. Developing temporally comparable high resolution rurality maps for social and health sciences. ($45,120).
- 2018-2021. Co-PI. National Natural Science Foundation of China. Individual-based epidemic modeling at a city scale with multi-source trajectory data (￥770,000 as $114,925).
- 2017-2020. Co-Investigator. National Natural Science Foundation of China. Modeling individual’s decision-making dynamic and its collective effects on urban sprawl using micro-simulation. (￥650,000 as $97,320).
Recent Publications
Das, D., & Mao, L. (2025). Mapping large-scale brand networks: A consumers’ foot traffic-based approach. Applied Geography, 177, 103546.
Mao, L. (2025). Modeling time-varying spatial accessibility to healthcare: A system dynamic approach. Health & Place, 91, 103416.
Du, F., & Mao, L. (2024). Identifying points of interest (POIs) as sentinels for infectious disease surveillance: A COVID-19 study. Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology, 51, 100691.
Du, F., Wang, J., Mao, L., & Liu, Y. (2024). Spatial equity in healthcare access: An opportunity-utilization perspective. Cities, 155, 105424.
Du, F., Wang, J., Mao, L., & Kang, J. (2024). Daily rhythm of urban space usage: Insights from the nexus of urban functions and human mobility. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1-10.
Fu, H., Wang, Y., Mao, L., Hong, N., Wang, Z., Zhao, S., & Liao, C. (2022). The spatial pattern and governance of Zhongyuan Urban-Rural System in its development trajectory. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 32(7), 1261-1280.
Glover, B., Mao, L., Hu, Y., & Zhang, J. (2022). Enhancing the retail food environment index (RFEI) with neighborhood commuting patterns: a hybrid human− environment measure. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(17), 10798.
Educational Background
- Ph.D. in Geography, State University of New York at Buffalo, 2010
- M.S. in GIScience, Nanjing University, 2005
- B.S. in Geography, Nanjing University, 2002
Current Graduate Students
PhD
Recent Graduate Students
Master’s
- Jaiwen Zhang (2019)
- Jue Yang (2018)
- Guangran Deng (2018)
- Sheldon Waugh (2014)
- Mike Falkner (2013)
- Nirav Patel (2012)
PhD
- Dr. Dawn Nekorchuck (2017)
- Dr. Ying Wang (2014)