Advisor: Dr. Chunyuan Diao
Research Interests
- Time series remote sensing
- Invasive species dynamic modeling
- Biodiversity change monitoring
- Forest phenology
- Forest remote sensing
Education
- M.S., Natural Resources and Environment (Conservation Ecology & Environmental Informatics), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- B.S., Ecology, Sichuan University
Grants
- Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) Fellowship, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2022
Awards and Honors
- Messina-Stanley Graduate Scholarships in Environmental & Health Geography, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2023
- Summer Research Grant Funds, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2023
- Schlesinger Travel Grant, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2023
- Student Honors Paper Competition Award (Third Place), Remote Sensing Specialty Group, Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, 2021
- Teacher Ranked as Excellent, Center of Teaching Excellence, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021
Courses Taught
- Instructor: GEOG 478 - Techniques of Remote Sensing - Spring 2022
- TA: GEOG/ESE 379 - Intro to GIS Systems - Fall 2021
- TA: GEOG/ESE 379 - Intro to GIS Systems - Spring 2021
- TA: GEOG/ESE 210 - Social & Environmental Issues - Fall 2020
Recent Publications
- Zhao, Y., Diao, C., Augspurger, C. K., & Yang, Z. (2023). Monitoring spring leaf phenology of individual trees in a temperate forest fragment with multi-scale satellite time series. Remote Sensing of Environment, 297, 113790.
- Foufopoulos, J., Zhao, Y., Brock, K. M., Pafilis, P., & Valakos, E. D. (2023). Predation Risk, and Not Shelter or Food Availability, as the Main Determinant of Reproduction Investment in Island Lizards. Animals, 13(23), 3689.